Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Dedicated Server : Cs Servers become laggy by Cpu Help!

[stevenmato]

Hello ,all professional Cs hosters , my name is Steven. I am a new
member of this forum and I came from HK ,I am a new Cs servers
hoster and I got some problems and hope that someone may
help me .


Now I have set up 6 cs servers. Each server for 12 players. When
all servers do not any players to play, the usage of cpu only
around 20%-30%. When about total 40 players are playing in each servers, the usage of Cpu becomes around 100% and the players become laggy. Their ping becomes higher. There are few questions i want to ask

1.Will the CPU will affect the pings of players?
2.If it does, how can I slove it?
3.Sys_ticrate will it affect the usage of the CPU?

The host computer's setting: Intel CPU2.4C , 1GB Ram, Window 2003 OS

I hope the problem will be sloved by all professional hosters ^^

[wake]

1-yes
2-drop the windows & 6*12= too many people for that server

[JLevine]

You have 6 cs privates each with 12 slots. I assume that only 10 slots are taken up at any given moment (players) or maybe 1 extra for an hltv. Lets create an imaginary situation, all your servers are full (11 slots each). That is 6*11=66 players are connected at once. Unlike webhosting or many other buisnesses, CS or game server providers NEED the best hardware because games take up alot of resources. The general guidelines to running cs servers is allow 50 mhz of processor and 20 mb ram PER PLAYER (these are very general and most likely on the high side). So technically your stats would require a fairly powerful server (atleast p4 3.6 HT with 1.5 gb ddr ram). Also please consider running a LINUX OS, they take much less processor/ram power. Another well known fact about the HL/HL2 engine (which is what cs is run off of) is that it is full of memory leaks. This can get very complicated but in short terms, I recommend rebooting your serverbox every day (maybe like 3am, pick a time when alot of people dont play). This will refresh the memory and will improve performance. Now to your last question, SYS_TICRATE command. The SYS_TICRATE command sets the servers fps, raising the command will eat more cpu processes. I believe the default SYS_TICRATE is set to 50 or 60, but alot of server companies like to run it at 100 for better performance (this command affects "registration" of bullets, and it also affects the ping at high ticrates).

Summary:
Your server specs are way too low to run cs servers at a decent quality. Windows is terrible for cs servers. The top hosts set SYS_TICRATE to atleast 250.

[stevenmato]

Thx swoon and v3|dark, so do i need to change the cpu or ram?

[viGeek]

sys_ticrate alas Tickrate will affect CPU/RAM BIG TIME. Try to keep it at an acceptable level. Tickrate will increase usage per server by about 20% dependong in the tickrate level.

When a CPU is under heavy usage, it will affect ping.

Windows is a resource hog, use Linux if you can.

[ICNick]

1. When all servers do not any players to play, the usage of cpu only
around 20%-30%

You shouldnt be getting 20-30% cpu usage when there is no players. So i guess you might be running something other then game servers as well?

2. When about total 40 players are playing in each servers, the usage of Cpu becomes around 100% and the players become laggy. Their ping becomes higher.

players/server will start lagging when the cpu usage reaches 70 - 80% not 100% .

3. Are you running the servers as a service? try this program http://www.firedaemon.com/

4. For windows try using a plugin call Booster you can find it in unitedadmins.com 's forums. With the correct config you can lower cpu usage while boosting the pings.

5. You ram is alright but you will need a better cpu, a P4 2.8 should be able to hold 6 * 12 slots server.

[JLevine]

UPGRADE UPGRADE and UPGRADE :|

[KWI-Donny]

The general idea would be to allocate 55 MHz per player and allow for 30-40% overhead (free and useable CPU) for allowing map changes etc along with 150-200 MB of RAM per server with daily restarts (as some may have memory leaks depending on the modules installed). You simply can't take x amount of players then divide by x amount of MHz and have a CPU maxed at 100. This also depends on what the server is running, stock (vanilla) or does the server have Metamod and other plugins that will effect the overall requirements per player.

The default sys_ticrate is set at 100 and on an average (non-boosted) windows server should give you anywhere from 64 (XP)-100 (Win2003 Web) FPS (on a boosted server 85 fps for both), not something any semi-pro gamer would want to play on.

The ideal FPS would be 200-400. Depending on the type of server, and I'm going to use CAL here, players that use interp levels of .01 with high rates will notice/feel a "sluggish/jerky" environment, this is due to the fact the server isn't running the correct FPS. It's also important to ensure the FPS doesn't fluctuate (i.e. going from 400 FPS down to 125 FPS) as that will cause lag.

Nuclearfallout sets ticrates to 500 (250~ FPS) while GriffinRUN's "pro register" servers yield a ticrate of 2000 and operate at 400-600 FPS.

As for the people saying "use linux over windows", you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about and it's been known (for a while now) the windows HLDS out performs linux. With the cheaper hardware costs, some hosts decide to simply "beef" the system up rather then run Windows, which may be cheaper (when you have multiple servers). If you do select Linux over windows, be prepared to modify the kernel (if your running 2.4) otherwise you'll end up with really terrible servers.


Your server simply doesn't have the power required to host that many CS servers.

[Cserver]

Windows is very good for hlds based game servers. But you'll only see the difference for the better on a high-end machine (i.e. dual xeon 3.06, or dual opteron242 +). So, i'd recommend running linux on your celly. Or upgrade.