Hi all, I am new to these forums after being referred by a friend. After spending a day or two just utilizing the Search function, I have ended up more confused then before I started. The reason I have come to these forums is to research what it takes to enter the game server market.
Before the warning comes, I know that the gsp market is saturated with sub-par companies run by ignorant owners (avoided using the word kids, oops i just did) that have a few hundred dollars to burn and the high hopes of getting rich quick. I also understand that I need to take any answers I get on these forums or anywhere on the Internet with a grain of salt.
On to the actual post...
While I haven't figured out whether I want to start out with co-location or dedicated, I think that will be a later decision based on projected profits and start-up investment.
Current Hardware Estimates: (taken from softlayer's website)
Dual Processor Quad Core Xeon 5430 - 2.66GHz (Harpertown)
8 GB FB-DIMM Registered 533/667
73GB SA-SCSI 15K RPM (or 32/64GB Intel SLC SSD, pending research)
2000 GB Bandwidth
Ideal Setup: (information gathered from other GSP sites)
running cs 1.6 1000 or 2000 fps private servers - 1 12man server per core
running cs 1.6 500 fps private server - 2 12 man server per core (does server fps eat resources exponentially or linear?)
What I would like to know, assuming the first setup of 8 cs 1.6 servers per box, would 2000GB bandwidth be enough or do I need to upgrade the bandwidth to be safe? (I expect the servers to be full/utilized less than 30% of the time or approx 50 hours of gaming per week)
note: no custom map downloads or sounds allowed
From reading the forums I have come across multiple posts that say RAM is the bottleneck and some posts that say gaming servers are CPU intensive. The only thing that most people seem to agree on is that hard drive speed is critical (for loading I assume).
Can anyone shed some light on the subject of RAM vs CPU?

Hi Jay,
I am quite sure you are able to fit at least 10 x 12 man high fps server in that configuration (if not more). Your bandwidth of 2000GB should be more than enough.
Do you have any experience managing game servers?

No experience as of yet, but I have played around setting up servers on my home computer and read many guides on the subject.
Also please note that I am starting this business to be tailored to the "serious" gamers that are willing to drop $80-100 per server. Performance is my number one concern.

You might want to consider starting out with a single quad core on each machine and 4GB of RAM, since there's no reason to drop a lot of money unless you're 100% sure your business is going to pick up momentum really fast.

Yeah I haven't run the numbers on how cost effective each core is, that is just a sample config.

Hi Jay,
I am quite sure you are able to fit at least 10 x 12 man high fps server in that configuration (if not more). Your bandwidth of 2000GB should be more than enough.
Do you have any experience managing game servers?
The number (of possible game servers hosted) is probably closer to double that on the machine you spec'd out.

close to 20 1000/2000 fps cs 1.6 private servers on a 8 core machine without them being unstable and spiking?

With the amount of game servers and slots you'll be able to host on the server, you'll likely have to play around and do some testing.

2 1000 FPS HLDS/SRCDS servers per core is no problem. 3 500 FPS HLDS/SRCDS servers per core is also no problem. Going above that will depend on your usage patterns.
I work for VSNX.net which owns a few GSPs, so I have a pretty good idea of what that machine can handle.

well your definitely the man to speak to, thanks for the information
Assuming I follow your experience, is 1GB ram per core a good number to stick to, or is more required?

I would start smaller if I were you and then work your way up. Also, my preference isn't to put all my eggs in one basket. What I mean is, for the price of that config you could probably split it down the middle and when you expand you have some redundancy / ability to not have your entire customer base down if something happens to one box.
I don't think you need 1gb per core for steam games.

thanks for the advice but,
can anyone enlighten me on the bandwidth situation and whether a beefier CPU or more RAM will have the most impact on private servers?

can anyone enlighten me on the bandwidth situation and whether a beefier CPU or more RAM will have the most impact on private servers?
At 1000 FPS the server is collecting event data from clients, and affixing a timestamp to it at a rate of 1,000 times per second. At 100-tick server is then taking those timestamped events and sorting them out to make decisions about the game environment, and then sending updates about that game environment 100 times a second.
IME a full HLDS server probably won't use even half a gig of RAM (probably much less), I don't believe tick/FPS has any effect on RAM usage, but you can probably test that yourself though on your home servers. I definitely think CPU is certainly far more important than RAM, and the latter is totally easier to measure and generally speaking easier to upgrade.
I *believe* that sv_maxrate and cl_maxrate (server takes lowest) is in bytes/second and will tell you what your *peak* bandwidth usage if you do some multiplication and division.
Hope that helps.

Hi all, I am new to these forums after being referred by a friend. After spending a day or two just utilizing the Search function, I have ended up more confused then before I started. The reason I have come to these forums is to research what it takes to enter the game server market.
Before the warning comes, I know that the gsp market is saturated with sub-par companies run by ignorant owners (avoided using the word kids, oops i just did) that have a few hundred dollars to burn and the high hopes of getting rich quick. I also understand that I need to take any answers I get on these forums or anywhere on the Internet with a grain of salt.
On to the actual post...
While I haven't figured out whether I want to start out with co-location or dedicated, I think that will be a later decision based on projected profits and start-up investment.
Current Hardware Estimates: (taken from softlayer's website)
Dual Processor Quad Core Xeon 5430 - 2.66GHz (Harpertown)
8 GB FB-DIMM Registered 533/667
73GB SA-SCSI 15K RPM (or 32/64GB Intel SLC SSD, pending research)
2000 GB Bandwidth
Ideal Setup: (information gathered from other GSP sites)
running cs 1.6 1000 or 2000 fps private servers - 1 12man server per core
running cs 1.6 500 fps private server - 2 12 man server per core (does server fps eat resources exponentially or linear?)
What I would like to know, assuming the first setup of 8 cs 1.6 servers per box, would 2000GB bandwidth be enough or do I need to upgrade the bandwidth to be safe? (I expect the servers to be full/utilized less than 30% of the time or approx 50 hours of gaming per week)
note: no custom map downloads or sounds allowed
From reading the forums I have come across multiple posts that say RAM is the bottleneck and some posts that say gaming servers are CPU intensive. The only thing that most people seem to agree on is that hard drive speed is critical (for loading I assume).
Can anyone shed some light on the subject of RAM vs CPU?
Well then welcome to the wonderful world of game servers!
I agree that you should wait to make a decision about co-location or dedicated server rentals.
The machine outlined will be a very strong baseline for you to start your business from and to grow off of. I would avoid the SSDs right now because of their low storage and high price. If you plan to make them part of the success of your business model and plan to leverage that with your customers then by all means give them a shot. AFAIK very few GSPs are utilizing SSDs.
My biggest concern right now is that you have the know how in regards to running the game servers. The configuration of these services can at times require very intimate knowledge of the services and how the game actually play from the 'inside'.
As for bandwidth the 2TB allotted will be enough for your originally outlined plans. CS1.6 is not a bandwidth monster compared to some other games. Purchasing additional bandwidth is expensive and you will most likely be better off by expanding the number of machines you operate.
running cs 1.6 500 fps private server - 2 12 man server per core (does server fps eat resources exponentially or linear?)I would say in a linear function.
On the subject of RAM vs CPU, go for the latter if hosting anything 500FPS or greater. The memory these servers use up will be relatively unaffected by the fact that you are running at 500FPS or higher, but the CPUs will be the hardest hit. The higher the tickrate and FPS you wish to operate each game server at the higher the CPU load will be. The CPUs you have selected are serious workhorses and a good starting point. The amount of memory you have selected will also be more than enough for what you've outlined.

Jaylee, first of all, where are you planning on putting your servers?
From past experience, I know that location is a big factor for many gamers as well as low latency.

I see GSPs fail weekly, here are some tips that will help you steer clear of that, most of these are based on things I've seen failed GPSs do:
As a general rule of thumb, don't do colocation if you have less than 10 servers. This can quickly get you in over your head in up-front costs and it will probably not save you money anyway at this stage.
I'd estimate 99.999999% of the kids that ask you to sponsor their game server will not be a good financial decision for you. You don't need to sponsor a server to earn business.
Don't lie to yourself about finances. Don't rack up tens of thousands of dollars in debt, be ready to throw in the towel or adjust your strategy long before you ever get into debt.
The benchmark performance benefits of using a 5472 over a 5430 (or the newest possible CPU as this will quickly grow outdated), and other minor adjustments are vastly outweighed by cost. The price of the server is equally, if not more important than the power.
Care about your clients, but realize that not every kid that's downloaded a copy of CS is a professional network engineer. You will always get latency tickets. Some are legitimate and some are not.
If you absolutely must recompile your Linux kernel for FPS adjustments - do not experiment with a production server (try it first at home or elsewhere) and leave a stable kernel as the default.
Be close to having a server filled before ordering another and try to have your financials in the green before adding another city. Don't buy infrastructure that isn't needed / affordable yet.
If you are setting up your own file server for your game files it can be a Linux server. It does not require a Windows or TCAdmin license. You can even use a VPS for this.

At 1000 FPS the server is collecting event data from clients, and affixing a timestamp to it at a rate of 1,000 times per second. At 100-tick server is then taking those timestamped events and sorting them out to make decisions about the game environment, and then sending updates about that game environment 100 times a second.
IME a full HLDS server probably won't use even half a gig of RAM (probably much less), I don't believe tick/FPS has any effect on RAM usage, but you can probably test that yourself though on your home servers. I definitely think CPU is certainly far more important than RAM, and the latter is totally easier to measure and generally speaking easier to upgrade.
I *believe* that sv_maxrate and cl_maxrate (server takes lowest) is in bytes/second and will tell you what your *peak* bandwidth usage if you do some multiplication and division.
Hope that helps.
Thanks I will look into the maxrate commands and how they affect bandwidth usage.
Well then welcome to the wonderful world of game servers!
I agree that you should wait to make a decision about co-location or dedicated server rentals.
The machine outlined will be a very strong baseline for you to start your business from and to grow off of. I would avoid the SSDs right now because of their low storage and high price. If you plan to make them part of the success of your business model and plan to leverage that with your customers then by all means give them a shot. AFAIK very few GSPs are utilizing SSDs.
My biggest concern right now is that you have the know how in regards to running the game servers. The configuration of these services can at times require very intimate knowledge of the services and how the game actually play from the 'inside'.
As for bandwidth the 2TB allotted will be enough for your originally outlined plans. CS1.6 is not a bandwidth monster compared to some other games. Purchasing additional bandwidth is expensive and you will most likely be better off by expanding the number of machines you operate.
I would say in a linear function.
On the subject of RAM vs CPU, go for the latter if hosting anything 500FPS or greater. The memory these servers use up will be relatively unaffected by the fact that you are running at 500FPS or higher, but the CPUs will be the hardest hit. The higher the tickrate and FPS you wish to operate each game server at the higher the CPU load will be. The CPUs you have selected are serious workhorses and a good starting point. The amount of memory you have selected will also be more than enough for what you've outlined.
Yeah it looks like I am going to have to focus on a powerful cpu opposed to adding additional ram. Im not sure what you mean by intimate knowledge of how the servers play from the inside.
Jaylee, first of all, where are you planning on putting your servers?
From past experience, I know that location is a big factor for many gamers as well as low latency.
Depending on how much money I have to start-up I plan to either start only in Texas and have a specific client base or to launch with east, central and west.
I see GSPs fail weekly, here are some tips that will help you steer clear of that, most of these are based on things I've seen failed GPSs do:
As a general rule of thumb, don't do colocation if you have less than 10 servers. This can quickly get you in over your head in up-front costs and it will probably not save you money anyway at this stage.
I'd estimate 99.999999% of the kids that ask you to sponsor their game server will not be a good financial decision for you. You don't need to sponsor a server to earn business.
Don't lie to yourself about finances. Don't rack up tens of thousands of dollars in debt, be ready to throw in the towel or adjust your strategy long before you ever get into debt.
The benchmark performance benefits of using a 5472 over a 5430 (or the newest possible CPU as this will quickly grow outdated), and other minor adjustments are vastly outweighed by cost. The price of the server is equally, if not more important than the power.
Care about your clients, but realize that not every kid that's downloaded a copy of CS is a professional network engineer. You will always get latency tickets. Some are legitimate and some are not.
If you absolutely must recompile your Linux kernel for FPS adjustments - do not experiment with a production server (try it first at home or elsewhere) and leave a stable kernel as the default.
Be close to having a server filled before ordering another and try to have your financials in the green before adding another city. Don't buy infrastructure that isn't needed / affordable yet.
If you are setting up your own file server for your game files it can be a Linux server. It does not require a Windows or TCAdmin license. You can even use a VPS for this.
Very useful and logical tips, thanks.

A few years ago hard drive speed was an issue but newer technology really doesn't make that a factor. Modern SATA drives which you will find most offer with their packages are just fine for hosting games. We have machines with 15k SCSI drives and others running SATA and honestly I'd bet anyone if they could tell the difference so I'd suggest saving a few bucks and going with SATA HDD's.

We used 10k Raptor drives in our game server boxes, couldn't really tell a difference as Rich stated.