Recommended server spec

OmNomNom! · February 2012

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere but a search didn't give me any luck.

I plan on hosting a dedicated clan server from home for clan practices, should be no more than say 5 or 6 a side

What server specs are required?
I have an old core 2 duo kicking around with 4GB of RAM that I could use a dedicated box.

What bandwidth is required?
My line is a BT fibreoptic 40 down / 10 up. 2-3 of the players would be located on site.

Thanks!

gamester_5 · February 2012

That might work ok. I use a i7 2600K overclocked with 16GB of memory on a 25/25 fiber line. It does fine. I was running it on a i5 with 8GB of memory on the same pipe 25/25 and was working ok as well.

The higher CPU really did help and extra memory never hurts.

I also run it on Windows Server 2008 Enterprise.

ScardyBob · February 2012

My understanding is that if you want a server that can handle 14-16 players and stay consistently above 20 ticks/sec under heavy load, you really need a 2500K or 2600K (preferably OCd into the 4.0GHz+ range). That's pretty much what the best performing servers (Australia Pure, Inversion, Team 156, HBZ) are running. You can run a server with lesser specs but you're going to either need to lower the playercount (i.e. more like 8-12 player range) or just accept that the server is going to tank into the <10 ticks/sec range under heavy load.

WRT bandwidth, I believe NS2 consumes somewhere in the 500 Kbps range when under heavy load/playercount (but don't quote me on that). In general, if you have a broadband cable/dsl/fiber connection, your CPU clock speed is going to be your bottleneck.

Dghelneshi · February 2012

10-12 players is not gonna work (yet) with a C2D. Sorry. Even a 2600K (without overclock) has problems with 12 players once the game has progressed somewhat (I'm not even talking about turret/hydra spam).

devicenull · February 2012

I'm hosting a server on an E3 1270 that seems to handle 12-14 players just fine.

Dghelneshi · February 2012

@devnull: Still quite more capable than an old C2D :)

@ScardyBob: Concerning bandwidth: In the gathers we've had some issues with one server operator seemingly maxing out his bandwidth with over 1Mbit/s upload, so it seems like it can consume a lot. 10Mbit/s would probably be enough for anything short of 64 players, though.

ScardyBob · February 2012

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dghelneshi @ Feb 9 2012, 06:23 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1901548"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>@ScardyBob: Concerning bandwidth: In the gathers we've had some issues with one server operator seemingly maxing out his bandwidth with over 1Mbit/s upload, so it seems like it can consume a lot. 10Mbit/s would probably be enough for anything short of 64 players, though.</div>
That's good to know. I've been wanting to do a more rigorous testing of server performance/resource consumption, but haven't had the time or tools to do so yet.

OmNomNom! · February 2012

Thanks for the replies guys. Shame the only PC in the house powerful enough sounds like my own. And i intend to be playing NS2 on it! :D (i7 2600k @ 4.8, 16gb ram, RAID SSD)

Actually... Thats a thought. I do have a i7-2620M Sony VAIO laptop (8GB, RAID SSD). Can't hurt to try right? :E

endar · February 2012

Can you overclock the 2620M? It might work then. Or did you mean to play the game on the laptop, either way you'd want OC!

My server has better specs than my gaming machine unfortunately :(

edit:
Back on bandwidth, I'm noticing that a single server instance with 18 players can peak to about 4mb/s. Download is almost always negligible due to asymmetric speeds, but its normally half that.

puzl · February 2012

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>What server specs are required?</div>

* Windows

Sorry, couldn't resist :D

OmNomNom! · February 2012

Hehe not sure i'd trust it overclocked. Its turbo is 3.4 though. I suppose it can't hurt to try :D

MOOtant · February 2012

Recommended specs: 20GHz. Recommended specs for 64 players for Source games: 3Ghz and 1 core is enough. As an exercise compute how many times Source coders are better.

endar · February 2012

Well this thread turned fast.

player · February 2012

That was so poor a comment it came 'round and almost become funny again. Almost.

Darkster · February 2012

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dghelneshi @ Feb 9 2012, 04:26 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1901397"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>10-12 players is not gonna work (yet) with a C2D. Sorry. Even a 2600K (without overclock) has problems with 12 players once the game has progressed somewhat (I'm not even talking about turret/hydra spam).</div>

Yeah. My i5 750 was hosting a 16 player match at an <i>okay</i> (10-20) level but after two hours the tickrate had tanked considerably and I was barely pushing 5.

OmNomNom! · February 2012

2 hours on one map? You mean the server rate is dropping because of too much crap in the level?

Darkster · February 2012

Yeah, on a map in a single round. I'm not sure if it was too much crap or if it was just performance degrading over time.

OmNomNom! · February 2012

Well i've had a few 12 player rounds for ~40 minutes and its worked seamlessly so far! Only once did it ever lag and that was due to a server script issue i think (i could see it spamming in console for previous damage info on a player) but that went away after 20 secs.

OmNomNom! · February 2012

Would a Phenom II X6 (3.3ghz) be powerful enough for an NS2 server? Also how much ram does the game end up using, 2gb? 4gb?

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Dghelneshi · February 2012

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (OmNomNom! @ Feb 10 2012, 06:09 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1901843"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>Well i've had a few 12 player rounds for ~40 minutes and its worked seamlessly so far! Only once did it ever lag and that was due to a server script issue i think (i could see it spamming in console for previous damage info on a player) but that went away after 20 secs.</div>
What one might call seamlessly, another might call laggy. Essential is choke and tickrate, which we cannot check right now, because net_stats is broken.

autograder · February 2012

For the purposes you've described, your core 2 duo is fine.

Ignore all the OMGz LOLZ YOU N33DS 6GIGERHURTS!! OVR CL0CLOOOOCK 4 EVR! <3<3 nonesense.

ScardyBob · February 2012

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (OmNomNom! @ Feb 11 2012, 04:49 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1902119"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>Would a Phenom II X6 (3.3ghz) be powerful enough for an NS2 server? Also how much ram does the game end up using, 2gb? 4gb?</div>
That would probably get you decent performance for a 12 player server under most cases (though it will still likely get laggy under heavy load). Since the NS2 server requirements are a bit ridiculous right now, what those who have the cash to put up a 2500K/2600K do is run multiple servers on the same machines. For example, on a quad-core 2500K, I've seen up to 3 servers (leaving one-core for windows/other stuff), on the same machine. It helps justify the cost a bit.

With respect to RAM, the worse I've seen for NS2 is using 1593 MB. In the most recent patches (B194/5), the max seems to be about 850 MB, with it averaging between 600-750 MB. 2GB would be fine if you're only running on server on the box, but 4GB would be a bit safer in case a future build has an unexpected jump in RAM usage or memory leak.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (autograder @ Feb 11 2012, 03:25 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1902177"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>For the purposes you've described, your core 2 duo is fine.

Ignore all the OMGz LOLZ YOU N33DS 6GIGERHURTS!! OVR CL0CLOOOOCK 4 EVR! <3<3 nonesense.</div>
This is a fair point, though it should be qualified with the fact that server performance will not be smooth under all circumstances.

OmNomNom! · February 2012

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ScardyBob @ Feb 12 2012, 12:39 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1902179"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>That would probably get you decent performance for a 12 player server under most cases (though it will still likely get laggy under heavy load). Since the NS2 server requirements are a bit ridiculous right now, what those who have the cash to put up a 2500K/2600K do is run multiple servers on the same machines. For example, on a quad-core 2500K, I've seen up to 3 servers (leaving one-core for windows/other stuff), on the same machine. It helps justify the cost a bit.

With respect to RAM, the worse I've seen for NS2 is using 1593 MB. In the most recent patches (B194/5), the max seems to be about 850 MB, with it averaging between 600-750 MB. 2GB would be fine if you're only running on server on the box, but 4GB would be a bit safer in case a future build has an unexpected jump in RAM usage or memory leak.

This is a fair point, though it should be qualified with the fact that server performance will not be smooth under all circumstances.</div>

i only intend to run a single server on the machine.

will the ns2 server fully utilize multiple cores? you make it sound like each server is fine on a single core. If this is the case i may just go for a fast tri or quad core chip instead

my i7 2620m laptop was a stable and fast server for 12 players today for many hours, with no one reporting any slowdown or problems but it isn't the most permanent of solutions :)

endar · February 2012

It will not (currently/ever?)fully utilize multiple cores. It will predominantly use up 1 entire core, and a very small margin of another core. A good rule (as stated above) is you can run x number of servers, where x=cores-1

OmNomNom! · February 2012

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (endar @ Feb 12 2012, 02:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1902205"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>It will not (currently/ever?)fully utilize multiple cores. It will predominantly use up 1 entire core, and a very small margin of another core. A good rule (as stated above) is you can run x number of servers, where x=cores-1</div>

Thanks. Very useful info. Will probably go for fastest cores i can get as opposed to most numerous

endar · February 2012

If you are looking at building a server for this stage of the beta, you can't really go wrong with an i5 2500K, nothing overclocks as well for the price (if at all). Closed to 1.0, it will be less important.

ScardyBob · February 2012

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (endar @ Feb 11 2012, 05:56 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1902208"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>If you are looking at building a server for this stage of the beta, you can't really go wrong with an i5 2500K, nothing overclocks as well for the price (if at all). Closed to 1.0, it will be less important.</div>
True, but I suspect that they will still be needed to run full 32 person servers (or higher tick servers if they allow it). Basically, if you can afford it, an OCd 2500K is not a bad investment for a NS2 server.

Recommended server spec

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