Dedicated Home Game Server

[Ruin]

I'm looking around at my junkyard of computers, the oldest being 5 years old, the newest about a year. The specs on them all range greatly.

Anyway, I thought about piecing together a nice little game server for personal use - LAN gaming with friends, dedi servers for my GR.net pals, team-speak, and web-hosting for myself.

I'm curious as to what setting up my own server would take.

What kind of specs should I be looking for?

Do I need a GPU?

What OS should I use?

What do I need to know?

Could I setup remote access? I assume so.

Thanks guys, curiosity is getting the best of me.

[Colin]

Hi mate I would start on numbers that will use it and then work towards the hardware.

No GPU for many games

I would reccomend a dual core chip and 2-4 gig memory

Serial ata drive maybe in raid x2 or 4

OS Linux although many people are using Windows new server software, I think Danick mentioned it this week somewhere.

I would say the bandwidth needs to be very good T1 To 2

There are loads of options really Main area good processor, good memory, 800mhz speed for Board Minimum, and a good server type hard drives.

This tec site has some good info.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1621387,00.asp

Edited September 5, 2007 by Colin

[Ruin]

Thanks Colin.

Looks like what I have laying around will make a better web server than game server.

I looked at building a game server:

APEVIA X-Pider ATXA2XP-AL/500 Case

EVGA 122-CK-NF66-T1 Mobo

EVGA 7300GT Video Card

Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe @ 2.13GHz

2x Patriot Extreme Performance 1GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Lite-On DVD-ROM

Seagate SATAII HDs (1 @ 80GB & 1 @ 250GB)

Total: 688.89

I've got two PCs laying around that should make a good server also, at least for websites. I don't think either have the processing power or RAM to run anything other than CS1.6, haha.

[Colin]

Im not so hot on this topic but you can normally do both on one system, by using dedicted cpu ie 2x dual cores on one board, then assign tasks to each one.

Beaver would be the one to ask or Roco maybe. Nite mate.

[Dannik]

Assuming you don't need Windows running, I'd suggest tossing Ubuntu Server Edition on the system. It's got the ability to set up and configure LAMP* as part of the installer. Couldn't be easier.

*LAMP: Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP. Basically, a web host in a box.

[Ruin]

Colin,

I thought of that also. But the way I figure it: If I want a game server, my hardware laying around is too old, might as well build. But, my old stuff is good enough for a web server. So, save some money (and performance) on the purchased rig, and use the old stuff. I think that makes the most sense. But I don't know, I'm a n00b.

Dannik,

Thanks bud. If I buy it will be with my new desktop also. I figured I'd install Win XP also just because I'm familiar with it. Although, I may look into an alternative (like LAMP) as I read-up and edu-ma-cate myself on this sort of thing.

[Dannik]

Although, I may look into an alternative (like LAMP) as I read-up and edu-ma-cate myself on this sort of thing.

If you go XP, the alternative to LAMP is, of all things, WIMP. Windows, IIS, MSSQL and PHP, though variants abound. It's nowhere as user friendly to configure, but it'll do the same basic thing, and has the advantage of being very easy to network with other Windows boxen. LAMP boxes network well too, though not as "streamlined" in terms of interface, unless you know what you are doing.

It all comes down to primary usage, as in if you want to serve games, do they have Windows binaries or Linux support. For the webhosting, it's either/or, though LAMP is generally considered superior. Doesn't really make a difference to the casual user. I figure, as long as FTP works, and the apps you want to run have a native version, you're good to go.

Also, consider VMWare. It allows you to run a virtual server, and if you choose the right options, you can download free "VMWare appliances", letting you run a LAMP server within XP, with little overhead, in terms of performance, particularly if you are just running your own webhost.

Many, many options, and it all comes down to your priorities.

[firefly2442]

IMO, Linux is easier to install Apache, MySQL, PHP, etc.

It's much more difficult to install and configure these under Windows.

Seriously, if you need help installing Ubuntu, let me know.

[Ruin]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the help.

Looks like I need to do some research on what I'm going to need for a web-server.

Windows seems to be a better choice for games - mainly because some only work on window, and if I run any mods, most of those will only work on Windows.

As for any website or hosting. I'm trying to set this up for family use too. So I don't want it too complicated, which is why I'm hesitant to run Linux. Unless I can use some kind of simplified remote access program with Linux. We'd be looking at just hosting files to access (upload, download, edit etc) from anywhere - like, if Ruin goes to England over the summer and shoots 1000 pictures, it would be nice to send them home automatically (yes, I can take that many, I took 550 at the beach last weekend). Also, I would use it as a place to host my own portfolio (because smugmug is expensive).

So would Linux still work for my needs, or will I over complicate my family?

[firefly2442]

Well, if you're used to Windows, I guess you should just use that. IMO there are security issues with having a Windows server but I guess they're no more severe than running XP or a regular desktop.

However, there are easy ways to transfer files and have remote access if you are away using Linux. You can setup an FTP server very easily that allows you to upload and download files. Once you have the computer setup, why not just both Windows and Linux for a little bit and see what you think?

[ROCO*AFZ*]

Well although Linux is nice for web hosting... if you currently don't know linux i don't suggest it. It's not just point and click... even with ubunto

For a game server i use windows 2003 server... though xp will work. Usually want at least 2GB of ram, multiple cores the better... such as the Quad.

You run your game server as a service for best performance. Check this application.

http://www.firedaemon.com/

Most of us game server admins use it.

You want a video card in the 7 or 8 series... i recommend nvidia. Low is fine # wise but you want to make sure it has the shaders. This will help out with games like GRAW and GRAW2 that don't have a dedicated console on release.

As for web server. It really depends on what you want. Small business 2003 R2 would give you exchange and weboutlook and really IIS is secure. Back in the day it wasn't but we are past the code red days. It also has sharepoint. Truthfully though with the cheap services out there that are web based ... why run your own? Ours is hosted at www.inmostionhosting.com and has cpanel aka linux based and tons of bandwidth and storage.

[Ruin]

Thanks Roco. All quite helpful.

I was going to run my own web server because I already have a spare PC to use as a server, and it's all free. Just a matter of setting it up. Although, InMotionHosting.com has some great deals. The 8.95 business version is great.

[ROCO*AFZ*]

Thanks Roco. All quite helpful.

I was going to run my own web server because I already have a spare PC to use as a server, and it's all free. Just a matter of setting it up. Although, InMotionHosting.com has some great deals. The 8.95 business version is great.

Yeah they are good also with tech support. Always answer me in less then 1/2 hour. When i signed up they called me 10 minutes afterward to verify the card and in another ten minutes my site was live (still takes around 24 hours to propagate to all the dns's but they gave me a temp link to get it setup with) For 8.95 you can't beat it.

[Ruin]

Definitely a good deal. I might look at it instead, so cheap for so much.

But, my own game server would definitely be t3h l33t.