hey guys,
What is the best soloution for gaming servers? iam looking to build some local servers for around 35 - 40 players each server will be able to host one game what soloutions would be the best and operating systems and things??
Richard
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hey guys,
What is the best soloution for gaming servers? iam looking to build some local servers for around 35 - 40 players each server will be able to host one game what soloutions would be the best and operating systems and things??
Richard
I would have thought something like a 64bit Athlon 3200 with a gig of ram should run game servers no problems, though that does depend on the games being played.
Aren’t gaming servers reliant on the contingency of your broadband? Most broadband packages come with only a 256k upload; this may affect the performance from the point of view of players connecting to your server. Also I would run the server off windows 2000 (because it’s less memory hungry than Windows XP) or Linux. I would say 2 Gig of RAM because 35 - 40 players is quite a lot even for a normal server that’s why most servers have a max of around 16 - 24 players. What game/s are you looking to put on this server?
These servers are for lan partys we are looking at some of these games so far,
Unreal Tournament 2004
Counter Strike
- Drobbins
Drobbins is my partner in crime for all of you who dont know.....we are not having a intenet connection on site for the first LAN and we are getting a gigabit network set up to make the best use of the speed available to us.
Rich
1Gb of ram would be enough with Linux since it has superiour memory management, my Linux box at home has 512Mb of RAM and it easily handles 3-4 players + up to 16 extra bots on massive maps. Fast disks (like raptors) would serve best to cut down on map rotation time.
Now, I know Athlon 64's (or better yet, an opteron) would be better for processing game engines, but with nVidia being the only realistic chipset provider for AMD cpu's, you're a bit screwed since nVidia refuses to release chipset spec documentation to the opensource community, so drivers are being hacked together using reverse engineering methods, which means they are quite unstable (basically considered experimental) compaired to Intel's chipset drivers which are extremely stable. Working with 3rd party developers is one thing Intel does do right. Although Conroe isn't publically available yet to beat AMD in FPU performance, it would probibly be better to use an Intel CPU for that reason alone. (Even a BGA P4 Prescott would do the job).
Why can you not use a motherboard for A64 which is not an Nvidia chipset?
40 players would be laggy for a high percentage of players, when it comes to counterstrike and most probably unreal. Maybe look at 24 man max imo
And what alternitive? VIA?.. their chipsets have had more flakes produced the last few years than kellogs.Quote:
Originally Posted by nvening
Not on GIGABIT LAN (or even 10Base-T for that matter).. they aren't talking about Internet at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by MantisCSS
The only player limit on modern hardware for game servers is map size when you're hosting a LAN party.
dual xeon with 2gb of ram running debain sata raid array should be able to run 40 :P or ebay a server i think azio has one for sale atm about about 400 quid and its very nice with a spare cpu the bidding might have ended though
a dual xeon with 2gb of ram would be able to run 40 freaking UT2004 servers nevermind hosting players..
Games servers are cut down versions of the game engines, Battlefield 2 on a players computer needs significantly more horsepower than a Battlefield 2 server..
Honestly, the best way to ensure performance is to make sure everyone has at least a 10Base-T NIC (everyone having a 100Base-TX NIC is nearly a certianty these days), and have decent disks in the server.
would a AMD 3000 64 bit with 1GB ram be good enough??
Iam not sure which motherboard tho, i see many reviews but most are for desktop machines.
Richman
more ram but yeah would work
dfi boards are the best imo mines solid as a rock
Would them motherbords not be a slightly bit over the top for server ussage??
Rich
As you say you are wanting to run each game on a seperate server box for a LAN.
Alot of professional outfits (GSP's) use one high spec box to run several games at the same time. Depending alot on the game being played. CS and UT are pretty easy going on resources so I should think you'd get both 40slot games running off of one box. BF2 especially a 40-64man server will demand it's own box in resources...
I would suggest a Single Core Opteron system with 2GB RAM and 10K/15k RPM HDD's.
I suggest a SATA controller card and splitting the games across two HDD's to spread the load. Also consider a dedicated OS HDD to remove the OS processes from the Game HDD's.
They are going to be going like a bat out of hell to keep up with the users let alone OS processes aswell.
Without doubt you will want to run a form of Linux. (Debian coming out on top of my list)
Linux will give you the stability and control you will want. (Okay you might need a few helping hands to get the game servers installed, stable, and optimised if you have never used Linux before. There are loads of helpful guides and tutorials online. I got CS configged on RedHat 9 in no time using an online guide. This was way back when HL was new. (note HL not HL2)
Ahh the good old days of University. Whoever said students have too much time on their hands? Well they were right ;-)
Anyway carrying on...
Most GSP's cram all that into expensive 1u boxes for CO-LO in DataCentres but if it's a local machine nothing stops you chucking the kit into a well ventilated Tower box.
Also look at your network, I would say run GBit LAN from server to switch and then 10/100 to the rest of the systems. THE REASON If you look at your network data load when you are playing a LAN game typically it sits around 2% on a 100M. If you have 40machines all using 2% capacity the poor server is trying to deal with 80M at the same time, times that by two and 160M is going in and coming out at the same time.
If your budget stretches to it put a dedicated server Gbit NIC into the box to give you better data throughput and reduce packet loss.
I've not even attempted to go hunting around for prices for you just in case this is way over the top for what you are after.
Like I said before, the problem with AMD CPU's is there are no professional stable motherboards available, nForce chipsets are horrilbe choice for a Linux server, they are grossly undocumented and the drivers for them are experimental at best. I'm sorry if that upsets the fanboys but thats the facts of life.
One name comes to mind...
Tyan...
Absolutely amazing boards both for Intel and AMD platforms.
10-base would not work for that may players. I litterally threw away two 10-base hubs the other day b/c they lagged so much. They were completely useless compared to my current Gigabit network, and I hadn't touched them since the days of Halo PC lanning, so I tossed the.Quote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
Switches would be better to cut down on collisions than hubs, but still... 10-base sucks
Why don't you like NVIDIA's chipset? There's nothing unstable about it. The nForce4 is rock solid, and great for over overclocking. I have a distinct feeling that you've never actually owned any. I, on the other hand, have three ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboards and one ASUS A8N-SLI Premium board (all nForce4).Quote:
Originally Posted by aidanjt
In fact, I was running a Counter-Strike: Source LAN server LAST NIGHT on my gigabit network, hosted by the Steam Dedicated Server program on the following server machine:
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
2GB (2x1GB Dual Channel DIMMs) ECC, Registered PC3200 Corsair XMS RAM
I had under 5 ping and no lag or anything whatsoever. I was playing with two other people in my house, also on the same network.
BTW, the server runs Windows Server 2003, not Linux, and its memory management is just fine.
EDIT: not trying to sound cranky... sorry, I realized it read that way, but I don't mean it ;)
10Base-T has it's uses. Just not on a performance network... If it's a small office with internet and email usage only and locally stored files then it's fine (can't think of anyone who'd be running like that these days...)
The minute you've got remotely stored files on servers and chunky file movement such as vidoe edits/high quality images you'll kill a 10Base-T network...(example)
Hub's have their places in a network too... but your statement about cutting down on collisions is absolutely true with switches.
I think they might be referring to the memory holes that can be found in XP Home/Pro editions which run a different core to the much more stable Server 2003.Quote:
Originally Posted by latrosicarius
I don't think my XP Home machine has lasted more than a few days before it required a reboot. LOL :rolleyes:
Well, that's true. In regard to prolonged stability, Windows is a big offendor, but that won't affect a LAN game. The use of ECC RAM in servers is also recommended. Doing this will let you keep your system on for months or years at a time without rebooting..... that is, if you don't install too many third-party programs on your server and treat it right.Quote:
Originally Posted by moose82
AMD's 64bit line up run UT much better than Xeons i found.
Also as for OS, that depends A LOT on the game your running. Linux is good for half-life.
On the note about AMD Workstation/Server class motherboards...
The Tyan Tiger K8WE (S2877) (Google it if you want to find details, looks really good) It's available from Scan for sub £200
I'll take one of them, 2 Opty 280's and a Nvidia Quadro FX4500... wait a sec *pinches self* Oh yeah there we go I was off dreaming again!!!
That would be awful for gaming..... :confused: i think. B/c it's not a desktop CPU, it's a server CPU.... I'm confused, I need to learn more about that stuffQuote:
Originally Posted by moose82
Well alot of people use the 100 series Opterons in their systems as they seem to overclock well.
Don't think you would want to try overclocking with two CPU's in though...
Anyone have any views on the subject? Games on 200 series Opterons?
Moose has been a great help to me and has drawn me up a specification..
Many Thanks Mate.
Rich
Sorry, no advertising --Steve
i love the way people always say based in.
never mentioning the peering, the bandwidth mix, and also registering just to advertise :(