I'm looking for a cheap gameserver (managed or dedicated), preferably in or near Western Europe (Belgium).
The problem is I have no experience whatsoever with GameServers (software: free? bandwidth: how much do I need? etc.), so could you please tell me what specs I need to look after, where I can get one, and maybe some hints & tips? :confused:
It would help me a lot, thanks. :)

ps: noooo, Genius Hosting is not going to offer Game servers :stickout It's just for some friends. ;)

www.jolt.co.uk
They're good :)

there are thousands of gameserver hosters out there.
but generally you could just get a dedicated and install the server software of the game you want to play ...
i'd say the bottleneck on gameservers is the RAM.
you should have atleast 512MB.
The Server Gamesoftware normally should be free (i just installed HL with the CS Mod, and that's free, dunno about Quake or sth. like that)
so find yourself a good dedicated provider with your needs and install the software yourself, it's pretty easy. (many tutorials out there for that stuff too)
for the bandwidth, well i just can tell you, a good visited gameserver eats ALOT of bandwidth ... so you should atleast have more than 50gb of traffic per month. (i'd say around 100 for one game running 12/7 with 16players should be enough)
hope that helped a bit ...

greets,

Recongamer.com

Jolt are good - they use the Docklands Telehouse I believe - a couple of guys from Belgium reported pings of under 50ms using cable.

Great. Thanks. :)
Looks like Jolt is the way to go... ? I already heard of them before, but when visiting their site I didn't find any pricing. Could anyone dig up an exact url with their prices?
Any experiences with them ?

I think the basic servers are around £100 / month

These guys seem to have a pretty good setup and their prices are reasonable.

http://www.xgameservers.com/

Here's another gameserver provider:
http://www.pwnz.net

I think you can also contact Mike Astin at mike@webauthorities.com to get a quote for your needs.

Here's another gameserver provider:
http://www.pwnz.net

I think you can also contact Mike Astin at mike@webauthorities.com to get a quote for your needs. They host many gameservers.

counter strike gaming server.. located in Belgium.... at least 16 concurrent players... you get server password, ftp space for your own skins and maps and other things I can't remember at the moment...

introduction pricing for you... 75 euro's / first month... traffic unlimited (at this time)

contact me for more info or visit www.gamezone.be...

anakron

I run game servers if you are interested.
I do rtcw / Unreal Tournament / Counter Strike and Quake 3.

I have a server in the UK.

I already run some game servers for other clans that are very happy.

Let me know

defcon,

The type of gameserver you need really depends on the game you're playing. Although im not swimming in experience for this field, i do know this, ever play q3 with 200ms of lag, and then play counter strike with 200ms of lag? In q3 you're like a skitzophrenic (sp) trying to shoot a pop-can from the other side of the football field, whereas in counter strike, the ping time isn't even noticable.

Find out the games you want to play, and their reaction to latency, some handle it very well (like counter strike), and some, extremely poorly (q3). This should be a major factor in pricing as if you're setting up a counter strike server, you can get it further away and hopefully where bandwidth is cheaper and more plentifull.