Hosting a server

[MikeMike]

at my house i have sitting around an iintel 1.8a and mobo. i was just wondering if i threw 512mb ram into it and like 40 gb hd. and then linux on the box. if that would be enough power for say a HL2 DM or CS:S server. and other games.

also, for online servers, would a 512k upload be enough to host like 10 people, or would it more realistically hold less? (DSL)

thanks.

MIKE

 

[Modeps]

the hardware should be fine to run a server, however I dont think a 512k upload is going to cut it for 10... it wouldnt hurt to try though.

 

[MikeMike]

Originally posted by: Modeps
the hardware should be fine to run a server, however I dont think a 512k upload is going to cut it for 10... it wouldnt hurt to try though.

its a 1500/512 serup for the bandwidth. residential dsl.

hardest part would have to be me figuring out gentoo since its been a bitch everytime ive done it. like right now ive been trying gentoo on my current computer but i cant get it to detect the right HD.

thanks.

MIKE

 

[Modeps]

Why not just use Fedora?

 

[drag]

Ya the bandwidth is going to be the biggest problem.

Divide 512k by 10 people and you get 51.2Kb/s worth of bandwidth per person and that's as a bad as playing dialup.

I'd say depending on the game your bandwidth would be able to support half that and still be respectively lag free. I have no idea how well HL2/CS:S handles bandwidth... Maybe somebody has specs some were about amount of bandwidth you can expect to allocate per person.

Also another thing to think about is if you EULA with your DSL/ISP provider allows you to public servers on your system. Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. DSL tends to be a lot better for this sort of thing then cable. Some DSL companies like SpeakEasy even encourage behavior like this and provides special packages for people who want to host from home.

Also another possiblity is to rent out space on a server somewere and get a fat pipe for relatively cheap (since the provider would be combining the cost of one huge pipe between dozens of other people). Maybe cheaper then upping your DSL service plan to handle more players. The downside is, of course, it's not as fun as hosting it at home and you lose control.

 

[MikeMike]

i cant find the eula and TOS of alltel right now.

MIKE

 

[Crusty]

Just to give you an idea about how the hl2mp runs on hardware..my box is a 3.0 xeon with 1gb ram on a burstable 100mbit line. It currently runs 3 cs 1.6 servers and one hl2dm server. With all servers full I pull through about 10mbit. Hl2mp is a resource hog though, when my 14 player server gets full the cpu gets pegged. I don't know if it's an issue with my box..but it seems every server i've been on is the same way. Hopefully it get's better..else hosting hl2mp servers will be very expensive!

 

[MikeMike]

the 1.8a can hit 2.67 no problem with air cooling if i need the extra speed. but damn 10mbit? ouch.

MIKE