Hello Everyone,

I am looking to start hosting gameservers as I hear it is a profitable area of the industry. I have no knowledge when it comes to this though. I know this forum is for web hosting talk and while I do host web sites I hope everyone doesn't mind me asking for information.

I was going to at first host the game's on my web server. I heard that with the sites I am hosting now I could only host about 60 Slots at the very most. I do not want to over load my server either.

I currently have two servers. One from Geekrack (burst.net) and another from Corenetworks. The Burst datacenter has no IRC allowed so it's suitable for web hosting and doesn't have a high risk for ddos attacks. I have the corenetworks box to provide Unix Shells and to host IRC Networks. I kept them seperate for the sole purpose of stability. I want to do the same with the game server.

Here is my list of questions and any other advice anyone wants to throw in is much appreciated.

1) Where to get the dedicated server? I am all about providing the fastest most powerful services to my clients and I want a proper box for the games.

2) I am definitely going to use GameCP http://www.gamecp.com for the control panel as it's billing system seems great and it's fully customizable. Does anyone know any flaws or better panels for game hosting?

3) Linux or Windows? I plan to get one of each at some point but what do gamers prefer?

4) Ranked servers, I was told I had to get a license from EA Games in order to sell ranked servers? Can someone explain this to me? I thought that if the client had steam and owned the game I could host ranked games.

5) For the time being, does anyone around host game's that would allow me to resell. I don't want to purchase a reseller package I would like to add your prices and list of games to my site for a percent of each sale. Term's can be worked out. I'd prefer a game host with many servers as gamer's are picky.


I'm sure I will have more questions. My company is new but we are very professional. Our support is almost instant so if someone will allow the resell we will support the clients and upkeep installations.

Regards,

Matt

<<Snipped contact details>>

If you are at least 18 years old, I would recommend using TCAdmin instead of GameCP. TCAdmin is one of the most powerful game control panels on the market today. However, please keep in mind that TCAdmin will only run on a Windows platform - most games work well in this platform, so that shouldn't be much of an issue.

I would not recommend mixing web hosting with voice servers and/or game servers. This will only hurt your clients and your business. cPanel, a popular web control panel, uses a decent amount of RAM - a cPanel/voice server/game server environment is not one I'd want to be in.

You would need to contact EA about a ranked server license. That is usually a pretty long and costly process. You need to have an established business before applying for a license like this.

I would not recommend reselling voice servers or game servers for another company. It is usually difficult to keep up with things, and when you experience lag issues or downtime, there is little you can do. It will only make your company look bad in the long run. I know that I'd never use a company that resold for another.

I would, however, recommend learning more about the industry before you make anything official. If you are not experienced, you will need employees who are - that's the expensive part of running a business.

I hope I've helped! :)

Hello John,

After the information you have given me I have decided for the time being to scrap the idea of renting servers to host games. Although I am not going to let you rain on my parade as I want to provide my clients and potential clients with a broad variety of great services.

I would not recommend reselling voice servers or game servers for another company. It is usually difficult to keep up with things, and when you experience lag issues or downtime, there is little you can do. It will only make your company look bad in the long run. I know that I'd never use a company that resold for another.


I remember many years back I opened up a web hosting business with a small reseller package. While it didn't go so well I did much research when finding my reseller package. I know there are very many top notch game server hosts that wouldn't mind a "less" established company like mine adding there services to my page as it will only benefit there company. I do have a few places in mind.

I would, however, recommend learning more about the industry before you make anything official. If you are not experienced, you will need employees who are - that's the expensive part of running a business.


You previously made a reference to my age. I take it as an insult as I asked for help for a topic that I am not much familiar with, does that have anything to do with age. I want to learn about the topic in question to avoid adding more staff members and that's why I came to this forum. While I am not turning this thread into a troll job I asked for advice and got everything but. I do forgive as you do not know me and since I am a host asking for help it's only natural to think I am unexperienced. Web/Reseller hosting is our bread and butter but we want to provide a broad variety of services. That is why I came and asked for simple responses that would help me on my venture.

And the comments about establishment, can you explain what you mean by this. While Host Phenom's website currently is being constructed we have done nothing to promote. 4 months open. Do you know of any businesses that were established and respected in this short of time. Like any other business whether it's a restaurant, retail store, or web hosting it take's time to become established. I expected atleast a year before promotion of our services began, I am well ahead of schedule. Our clients have been strictly word of mouth.

I have a bachelors degree in Business Administration. My invoices are sent promptly, my records are kept correct, and I pay taxes on every bit of revenue brought in through sales. And while I think you meant inexperience with gameservers, do you still question the fact that I am inexperienced in this industry?

Anyway's I appreciate the feedback and if anyone can give me useful information please feel free to. Again, thanks John.

Regards,
Matt
Host Phenom

You previously made a reference to my age. I take it as an insult as I asked for help for a topic that I am not much familiar with, does that have anything to do with age.Yes, I made a reference to your age. I stated that if you are at least 18 years old, I would recommend using TCAdmin, rather than GameCP. I mentioned you being at least 18 years old because:


http://tcadmin.com/terms.php

Contracts may only be entered into if the person is 18 years of age or older. Any potential client that does not meet this age requirement, must have a person of legal age order the product for them.

Yes, I made a reference to your age. I stated that if you are at least 18 years old, I would recommend using TCAdmin, rather than GameCP. I mentioned you being at least 18 years old because:

That's a standard clause written into most any well written contract ;)

OH SNAP! Haven't seen one of these threads lately. Just one question, what research have you done to figure out this is a profitable market?


Depends on your target audience location, and types of games. If you have to ask about server specs, I would research hardware.
Not personally.
] This depends on the game software requirements, and what you know how to administrate, if you don't know jack about Linux, don't waste your time until you do.
No, don't count on hosting ranked games with EA. You'll have a better chance of seeing a leprecon.
If you mean an affiliate program, I'm sure you can contact GSP's.


I would do a little searching.
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=630856&highlight=gsp
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=684841

Web Hosting is absolutely nothing like game hosting. Your best bet is just learn over a couple years. If you dont know anything about it now, you should not be starting a game hosting buisness until at least april 2009, there are just way to many aspects to figure out.

Web Hosting is absolutely nothing like game hosting. Your best bet is just learn over a couple years. If you dont know anything about it now, you should not be starting a game hosting buisness until at least april 2009, there are just way to many aspects to figure out.

You're getting a bit too specific on those dates, aren't you? Everyone learns differently; some learn fast while others learn more slowly. There isn't a schedule for learning the industry.

You're getting a bit too specific on those dates, aren't you? Everyone learns differently; some learn fast while others learn more slowly. There isn't a schedule for learning the industry.

I think the general idea was that you should become more familiar with the industry, rather than jumping right in.


@HostPhenom : As you said - you are familiar with the web hosting industry, and as stated above - these two (Game hosting and Web Hosting) are nearly inverses of each other.

In my opinion, you should contact a few game server providers (companies) and ask them for a position as a tech or something. This way, you can get a feel for what responsibilities are required and how to manage the various issues that possibly can arise.

However, it's your call. Most of us here would suggest you wait a but before "jumping the gun," but you know yourself better than anyone here.

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I think the general idea was that you should become more familiar with the industry, rather than jumping right in.


@HostPhenom : As you said - you are familiar with the web hosting industry, and as stated above - these two (Game hosting and Web Hosting) are nearly inverses of each other.

In my opinion, you should contact a few game server providers (companies) and ask them for a position as a tech or something. This way, you can get a feel for what responsibilities are required and how to manage the various issues that possibly can arise.

However, it's your call. Most of us here would suggest you wait a but before "jumping the gun," but you know yourself better than anyone here.

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The game server industry is very demanding. You'll experience so many twelve year olds signing up with their parents' credit cards. They tend to cancel accounts and sign up again within weeks. It gets a bit annoying after a while. You'll also be bothered so much by a bunch of tween customers who demand their servers be less than 30ms.

As for getting a job in the game server industry, it's harder than it looks. Most of the major game server providers rarely take on new help, and when they do they are looking for very experienced people.

The game server industry is very demanding. You'll experience so many twelve year olds signing up with their parents' credit cards. They tend to cancel accounts and sign up again within weeks. It gets a bit annoying after a while. You'll also be bothered so much by a bunch of tween customers who demand their servers be less than 30ms.
Agreed. Of course there are pro's and con's of all - but I'd say John just pointed out a few of the major ones.


As for getting a job in the game server industry, it's harder than it looks. Most of the major game server providers rarely take on new help, and when they do they are looking for very experienced people.

Agreed here as well. But if you are determined to do someone, I'm sure HostPhenom could possibly find a reputable company (given that he does research, plays around with "stuff", and comprehends some points)

I'll say that one good thing about hosting game servers is that you can game all day (as long as there's no work to be done)... it makes sense in a way. If I were to play games a lot right now, while I'm just in the web hosting industry, it would look a bit weird. But if I were working in the gaming industry, it'd look perfect. :)

I know this doesn't help you much but i would like to give you some info about the GSP market before you get into it.

Game Server clients expect several things, extremely low ping, REAL 24/7 Support with a less then 5minute response time, they are under the impression a game server is a managed service meaning if they are to lazy to login and restart there server or upload a map chances are you will be doing it. Oh, and your servers have to be cheap cheap cheap to attract any business unless of course you are targeting the "performance game server market" in that case you will have a whole new set of issues.

Also the profit margin may seem high at first glance but after you start getting into it.
- The Best Hardware
- The Best Network
- Unrealistic Support
- High Bandwidth Cost/Usage
- And the time you waste talking to children and/or dealing with there parents who just noticed the charge on there credit card.

Game Servers are really not a good place to be at the moment.

Im not trying to bash you I really am trying to help you. If you see this is something you want to do PLEASE just do a ton of research before you decide to dig yourself into a hole.

Best of luck and I hope you acknowledge the arguments in my post.

You're getting a bit too specific on those dates, aren't you? Everyone learns differently; some learn fast while others learn more slowly. There isn't a schedule for learning the industry.
I could get even more specific if you would like ;).

Hello Everyone,

I am looking to start hosting gameservers as I hear it is a profitable area of the industry.

If I'm wrong someone correct me, but I would have to say gaming servers is not profitable at all. Chances are if you charge people to play it will either be against the game's ToS or people wont play.

I run an Ultima Online server and the only money is donations, but these barely cover the costs. You have to really have a passion for the game you are hosting and be willing to use your pocket money for it.

My tip is start with a low end server (at least a P4 though, avoid Celerons)

10mbps is most likely enough, you'd be surprised. Go with that, then upgrade if needed. Specially a MMO server, the packets are actually very small. Latency is very important though so you want a really good network.

I personally recommend The Planet or Softlayer.

Oh and you wont really need a control panel, since each game server application operates differently and may or may not have it's own built in admin console. RDP/SSH is all you need (and FTP to update game content/scripts etc)

Get a few servers in a few different locations. Most big hosting companies offer at least 3 locations so everyone has good ping. If you just have an NYC server and someone in seattle or LA wants to buy they are going to have 80ms ping. I used to play counter strike in CAL Main and people were crazy about ping times and smoothness.

You'll need really good hardware. You also need about a month of experimenting. Just put up public servers with your companies name in the title to get people in. You need to figure out what games use the most cpu, how many slots each server can handle, and figure what games do and don't run good together on the same server.

For example: BF2 is an absolute Bandwidth Hog. Other Games like COD2/4 aren't that bad. They may use more of something else though like processor or ram. You need to measure all of this and strategically place games on the right kind of server.

You will probably want 100mb/s port per server. My old 64man BF2 server used 8mb/s by itself. 10-15k rpm Drives. Quad Core Processor or maybe dual quads. 4-8GB of ram. You will be able to host ample slots.

Also, don't host games like Garry's Mod. They can bring down a 4 Core server with only using 8 Slots. I had a Xeon 5335 with 4GB of ram and my 8 person server maxed it out. Be very careful what mods you allow. Certain mods can be coded badly and have memory leaks or are just performance hogs. Customers who use those quickly become unprofitable. Limit what you allow and don't allow. Only use widely accepted mods that aren't still in beta.

I've been a FPS gamer all my life. I've tried every company there is in game servers. I also had a few dedicated servers and hosted my own communities/clans servers. All these things come into play.

These people aren't raining on your parade, they are correct. You cant start this overnight. You needs months of learning and experience and plans. People do expect you to do everything for them. They want someone on 24/7 365.

If I'm wrong someone correct me, but
My tip is start with a low end server (at least a P4 though, avoid Celerons)

Oh and you wont really need a control panel, since each game server application operates differently and may or may not have it's own built in admin console. RDP/SSH is all you need (and FTP to update game content/scripts etc)
I assume you're speaking about mmo servers for these statements, I know nothing about mmo servers but if you are planning to run FPS servers, do not use celerons/p4's and you will need a control panel for clients to use.

People do expect you to do everything for them. They want someone on 24/7 365.
Very correct and with that in mind, I'd suggest hosting just a few games that you know up and down. Nothing is worse then companies hosting every game available and not knowing how to properly configure one or run updates for one when they end up getting a customer for that game.

Very correct and with that in mind, I'd suggest hosting just a few games that you know up and down. Nothing is worse then companies hosting every game available and not knowing how to properly configure one or run updates for one when they end up getting a customer for that game.

Any Call of Duty Game and Any Game based on the Source Engine (TF2, Counter-Strike Source, Half-Life 2 and Mods) are very easy to run. The server guides, addons, and support is plentiful.

Call of Duty
Call of Duty United Offensive
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty 4
Team Fortress 2
Counter-Strike Source
Day of Defeat Source
Half-Life 2 and Mods

They are very easy to run. They aren't too resource intensive unless there are bad mods installed. I would try mastering and hosting them first. Also, HL1 Games are easy too.

Also, offer some different grades. For example: the Source Engine can be run at 33, 66, or 100 Tick. People will giant servers who just want to have fun usually go with 33 or 66 tick. People who want competition and a smaller server usually want 100 Tick. It makes the game run smoother for them. The more options you have, the more choices for your clients. They will appreciate it.

Never run servers bigger than 20man @ 100Tick. You will also want to look into server side FPS. Budget hosts like GameServers.com and ArtofWarCentral usually run at 125 or stock GameServer FPS. Higher end hosts like Hidef, Velocity, NuclearFallout run their servers at 500+ FPS. Anything over 500 will need a specifc Kernel timer change. There are numerous guides on srcds.com to get you started.

They higher the FPS, The higher the tickrate, the more bandwidth, memory, and especially CPU power you will be using. Price and run it appropriately.

Figure out what you want to be. A budget host who runs more servers and slots per box but charges 1.50$ per slot, or a host who runs fewer servers/slots on a machine with higher specs that charges 3$ a slot. Maybe offer both?

There are so many things to consider.

1) Where to get the dedicated server? I am all about providing the fastest most powerful services to my clients and I want a proper box for the games.

Texas or Chicago For Central, New York, and La or Seattle. You'll cover all coasts.
There are so many good companies its hard to say just one.
I would get a Dual Quad Core Xeon (8 Cores) - 4-8GB of Ram - 15k RPM Drive - 100mb/s Port - Plenty of IP Addy's Gamers Don't want bad ports. If default port is 27015, they dont want 27018. Give each server a Unique IP. If you are hostings 50 Servers, Have 51 IP's.

2) I am definitely going to use GameCP http://www.gamecp.com for the control panel as it's billing system seems great and it's fully customizable. Does anyone know any flaws or better panels for game hosting?

They aren't bad, I would go with them over TCAdmin for the fact that TCAdmin is Windows Only.

3) Linux or Windows? I plan to get one of each at some point but what do gamers prefer?

I hate windows for servers. Especially Game Servers. Linux is the best for performance. I would go with CentOS or FreeBSD to host the servers on.

4) Ranked servers, I was told I had to get a license from EA Games in order to sell ranked servers? Can someone explain this to me? I thought that if the client had steam and owned the game I could host ranked games.

Good luck getting a license. Same with Ventrilo. Both I heard is nearly impossible anymore to get a license.

5) For the time being, does anyone around host game's that would allow me to resell. I don't want to purchase a reseller package I would like to add your prices and list of games to my site for a percent of each sale. Term's can be worked out. I'd prefer a game host with many servers as gamer's are picky.

You won't learn as much being a reseller. Get in there and learn it for yourself, you go farther.

I would get a Dual Quad Core Xeon (8 Cores) - 4-8GB of Ram - 15k RPM Drive - 100mb/s Port - Plenty of IP Addy's

This would be a pricey system every single month. You could consider starting with a 'smaller' server, and gradually grow to two, three servers and so on. You might want to consider this option, since having one BIG server also means a SINGLE point of failure.

This doesn't mean getting a 'slow' server, but at least getting a really good one with less RAM, HD, CPUs, and you can get another one as you grow.

We run CS and TF2 internally on a 1GB ram VPS, they run as if they were a dedicated server. So a simpler dedicated or even a strong VPS could do the job.

In my opinion as you start, why would you take so much out of your pocket when you got more options?

By the way, are you considering server management or your doing this yourself?

We run CS and TF2 internally on a 1GB ram VPS, they run as if they were a dedicated server. So a simpler dedicated or even a strong VPS could do the job.

Just saw this and I have to fix it....You cant run game servers on VPS. Period.

Just saw this and I have to fix it....You cant run game servers on VPS. Period.

Yes, your majesty.

I said internally btw ;)

Say to that to our customers!

Just saw this and I have to fix it....You cant run game servers on VPS. Period.

This generalization is false. The configuration of the VPS would determine the status of the ability of running a gameserver...

Providing one single statement to overrule all possibilities is wrong and false.

[Assume] you have a VPS located on a dedicated server (that is configured only with 2 VPS'). The dedicated has 8GB RAM and 15K Raptors... Then what? You can have 4GB burstable and 2GB dedicated...

I'm not sure that your generalization is correct...

But for the most part - running a gameserver on a VPS is not recommended, considering the specs found on major VPS providers.

Exactly.

Geez, I hate those " I know it all comments ".

Yes, your majesty.

I said internally btw ;)

Say to that to our customers!
Oh I know, I wasnt blaming you. And that wasn't "I know it all comments," ever try reaching 512 FPS stable on a VPS? Sure the tickrate would hold but the FPS bleh. I guess I should reword my response natsh, sure go ahead and run a game server with crappy FPS because VPS's mess with timestamping. Ask anyone who has experience with game servers, anyone.

I would concur. It's "possible" to run a gameserver on a vps but not really viable especially if your wanting to sell game hosting.


You might consider starting out with something like a Core2Duo, 2GBs Ram which should give you plenty to work with and can be had for a modest price. Performance would be very good hosting 6-8 game servers.

I would concur. It's "possible" to run a gameserver on a vps but not really viable especially if your wanting to sell game hosting.


You might consider starting out with something like a Core2Duo, 2GBs Ram which should give you plenty to work with and can be had for a modest price. Performance would be very good hosting 6-8 game servers.

Thank you Defcon.

I fail to see what Spartanfrog is failing to comprehend. Anything is possible. The only issue that one would have to be cautious over is whether or not the stability of running a gameserver via VPS(possible harm undermining other accounts on the server as well, but thats a different issue).

Thank you Defcon.

I fail to see what Spartanfrog is failing to comprehend. Anything is possible. The only issue that one would have to be cautious over is whether or not the stability of running a gameserver via VPS(possible harm undermining other accounts on the server as well, but thats a different issue).


I believe we are all in agreement with the limitations hosting off a VPS platform. Perhaps SpartanFrog's comments were taken out of context.

Hope this helps :)

Yes they were, thanks Defcon.

It's as profitable as you make it. If you launch properly and put a lot of money into advertisnig properly at the start, it's likely to pay off in the long run. Suppose you just have to take the leap and spend a little to make a.. lot hopefully :P hehe. Goodluck with whatever you do :)