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building a server

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dawack_29

Registered
Joined
Mar 19, 2003
hello all tell u wht it is there is a couple of us thinking of chiping in to build a dedicated server to run the likes of cs or raven shield and we were just wondering wht sort of spec we could getaway with as in save the cash or would it be alot less hastle to hire 1 just
ie : has any1 dont it
:( ;)

thanks
 
Your best bet would be to buy one of the Dell 600SC Servers. Theyre cheap as dirt right now. Definately worth the money. Hell the processor alone in them is worth half what you pay for the whole system!!
 
The main thing running dedicated servers requires is lots of memory and HDD speed. With this in mind, get a cheap athlon xp 1700+ (even overclocks well) combine it with at least 512mb DDR ram, then even a 20gb hard disk would do if it is only a dedicated game sever, but get a fast one, 7200rpm, one of the WD 8MB cache ones would be ideal. Doesn't matter if the graphics card sucks, as it will be dedicated, if your noth botherd about overclocking, save money and get a cheap motherboard with integrated everything, LAN, GFX, Sound... if you want to overclock, go with a better board, but still just a really cheap PCI or AGP graphics card.
 
My P2 300Mhz 128Mb SDRAM box held 16 people playing CS without lag. After that, my upload bandwidth craps out, and everyone has over 100ms ping : /

Here are a couple stats from that box:
Not running CS (Idle, but doing random other things--webserver, proxy, fileserver, etc.):
CPU Usage = 20%
Ram Usage = 216 Mb

Running 8 people, I average
CPU Usage = 50%
Ram Usage = 310 Mb

Running 16 people, I average
CPU Usage = 85%
Ram Usage = 340 Mb
Upload Bandwidth usage = 40k/s

Ram and bandwidth are more important than processor speed, harddisks don't really need to be fast, except for changing levels. I have a 30gig 7200rpm in there, works fine.

Also-- when playing 8 or 16 people, 1 or sometimes 2 are on the LAN, and are not included in the 40k/s. And the system has to swap out almost everything to disk (I need to buy more ram for that poor poor box)
 
My Web and FTP servers run on a 133 with 16mb ram and a 4GB WD HD :D

Its a slow pos but it does the job :p

I use my 550 with 256mb ram for the game servers, (older games :p)
 
first of all, you aren't going to want to overclock this server. a server isn't overclocked. i would get a system that has the following:

-processor - athlon 2000 (give or take a little depending on amount of money available)

-motherboard & ram - make sure it runs 2 gb ecc ram for expandability; maybe start with 1 gb ecc ram and go from there...

-hard drive(s) - definitely go for an 8 mb cache drive or if you want to go all out, get a wd raptor. maybe 2 - 8 mb cache drives in a raid 0 for a little extra speed to be about the speed of a raptor; of course at the expense of reliability, but you also have a chance of losing everything off a single drive, so either way you gamble.

-video - you could go with onboard video or maybe just like a cheap ati radeon 32 MB sdr 4x agp (found a newegg for $28)


or if you want to go all out, check out this dual amd 2000+ mp system i have "built" from newegg parts ($973.95):
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=292046
 
Another question we have about setting our server up is we are undecided on what connection to use...

Is ADSL 600k or 1Mbit Cable the best.
The cable has a excellent dl rate ofcourse but the upload isnt the greatest the ADSL upload is almost as quick.ADSL also seems to be alot more stable than cable.

As you can guess we are undecided on this so any answers are most welcome!! :eek:


www.ultima-gamers.com
 
ULTIMA-Lestat said:
Another question we have about setting our server up is we are undecided on what connection to use...

Is ADSL 600k or 1Mbit Cable the best.
The cable has a excellent dl rate ofcourse but the upload isnt the greatest the ADSL upload is almost as quick.ADSL also seems to be alot more stable than cable.

As you can guess we are undecided on this so any answers are most welcome!! :eek:


www.ultima-gamers.com

well do you guys have any prices for the asdl and cable connections? price can always help make a difference in which one you should be choosing. personally, i would go with asdl from the sounds of it. 600k isn't too bad and you will need some upload speed as well to make a decent server without lag. you can have all the download bandwidth in the world, but it wouldn't make a bit of difference if you have very little upload bandwidth to work with... i would most definitely do some research before making any sort of commitment.
 
ULTIMA-Lestat said:
Another question we have about setting our server up is we are undecided on what connection to use...

Is ADSL 600k or 1Mbit Cable the best.
The cable has a excellent dl rate ofcourse but the upload isnt the greatest the ADSL upload is almost as quick.ADSL also seems to be alot more stable than cable.

As you can guess we are undecided on this so any answers are most welcome!! :eek:
I find upload to be more important. Technically, a DSL line, being more stable should be better. In a neighborhood like mine, where there's always alot of bandwidth available, it's not really a problem for me.

On my server, I run Admin Mod, and I have the blatt_rate plugin. I find it very useful. What it does is whenever someone joins or leaves, it takes into account the number of people on the internet, and on the LAN, does a few calculations, and sets a server rate, and everyone's client rates so that everyone will play evently.. Without it, people with broadband would end up sending at their same, very fast rate, using up more than their share of bandwidth, and not leaving any for people with weaker connections (further away or dialup).
 
Well regarding price they are pretty much similar £30 - £35 a month. To rent a server from jolt or whoever usually comes around £50 for a international server and thats without admin mods. This is why we have decided to make our own dedicated server but cant decide on which connection to use :rolleyes:

I like this idea of being able to spread the bandwidth evenly with this blatt_rate plugin. Is there a url handy so i could read a bit more into that ??

Thanks again for the help people !!!
 
ULTIMA-Lestat said:
I like this idea of being able to spread the bandwidth evenly with this blatt_rate plugin. Is there a url handy so i could read a bit more into that ??

Thanks again for the help people !!!
Here's a review/description of it, and a download link on the right hand side:
http://www.ravenousbugblatterbeast....atterPlugins/plugin_blatt_rate/Docs/index.htm

Very nice plugin, I havn't had any complaints when running it, and I can stuff a few more people on. Generally, on my server (40-50k upload cap), most people run under 100 ping until I get over 10 people. By about 16 people, most people are running at 150 ping or so, any more than that and it starts lagging horribly (due to me running out of upload bandwidth, and everyone lagging equally : /).
 
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