How to run a Dedicated Server?

Moldarin · Post by **Moldarin** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:37 pm

Hi,

How do I run a Dedicated Server and about how much bandwidth does it require to do so?

I'm not so technical with server-stuff, so please don't aske me to do stuff without explaining how to do so.

Aparche

belenus · Post by **belenus** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:50 pm

Well you need either a Windows or Linux dedicated AA server, but I would really advice to use the linux version, you have a better performance, especially on lower end hardware.

If you need it really easy, take the Windows version, although there you will get into trouble letting the server run as a service with periodically restarting it. (especially nececerry when you have a dynamic IP)

Well bandwidth, to support 16 players at same time, you should at least have 800 kBit UPLOAD rate... but the more the better...

At minimum you can say for upload 6kByte / player.
Download rate shouldn't matter for most broadband connections >= 2 Mbit.

I would adwise to read through the W I K I, a lot of questions are answered there.

Post by **Tank Program** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:52 pm

Bandwith usage is no where near 6KB/s per player. It's closer to 2KB/s.

belenus · Post by **belenus** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:55 pm

Tank Program wrote:Bandwith usage is no where near 6KB/s per player. It's closer to 2KB/s.

Then someone made a huge mistake in the WIKI...

Post by **Tank Program** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:58 pm

Hmm, might have to correct that. Just, I could never run 5 servers on the same connection if bandwith usage was that high.

Website · Post by **Z-Man** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:29 pm

Three things to note here:
a) The bandwidth grows roughly with the square of the number of players, because everything everyone does has to be transmitted to everyone.
b) There is a huge difference between peak bandwidth and average bandidth usage. Peak bandwidth on fortress easily goes up to 8K/player (connect with maximum incoming rate set to 4K/sec and see what happens), but the average is more like 3K/sec. For a single server on an not-so-fat pipe, the peak bandwith usage is important. For many servers sharing a fat pipe, the average is more important, because the peaks get washed out.
c) Peak bandwidth depends on your game settings. With fast turns/low CYCLE_DELAY, players can turn spam your server and lag everyone out by generating exuberant bandwidth use.

The end result: you need to experiment. You can't change your bandwith easily, just set up your server with your desired settings and watch how many people it can support without lag attacks, then cap the maximum client count to that.

Post by **Lucifer** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:31 pm

THe number in the wiki comes from a post by zman on the subject where he gave a guy some pretty detailed bandwidth tweaking support that someone thought would be nice on the wiki.

Post by **Tank Program** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:32 pm

Hmm, well, I append 'on average for me' to my previous statements then.

belenus · Post by **belenus** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:40 pm

So, what should one set MAX_OUT_RATE to with 608 kbit upload and 10 players? =)

Moldarin · Post by **Moldarin** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:44 pm

OK, OK...

How much a month? A couple of gigs?

And how do I set it up?

Website · Post by **Z-Man** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:05 pm

Belenus: if the data you give is fixed, obviously 608/8/10 which is about 4 for our purposes.

Moldarin: Now that hugely depends on how popular it is

A popular server can easily consume 100Gbyte per month. My test server for the 0.2.7.1 release certianlty didn't go above 2 Gbyte per month, my bill would have noticed that. Personally, I wouldn't run a server on a home conenction without a flat fee.

As to the how, really read the wiki. Everything we could tell you without you asking specific questions is already covered there.

belenus · Post by **belenus** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:17 pm

z-man wrote:Belenus: if the data you give is fixed, obviously 608/8/10 which is about 4 for our purposes.

608/8/10 is = 7,6

Website · Post by **Z-Man** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:21 pm

Whoops