What are the de facto sites/resources for running a bf1942 server?

[stultus]

I'm looking for agood site with forums, etc with people adminning bf1942 servers. Anyone have any suggestions? My method of google'ing and randomly trying hits is not working for me.

 

[dakels]

the forums at http://www.planetbattlefield.com/ aren't too bad but not great.

this site and his forums
http://www.blackbagops.com/bfutils.shtml

bfnation forums

If you plan on making a bf1942 server, you better have a great connection like a university T3/OC3. Even my 1mbps upload can only host about 18 people max without lag. BF1942 has some of the worst netcode ever. Each player needs about 60-80kbps! Thats like 2-4 times that of most other games. If you're like me and enjoy large 32+ people games, then don't even bother considering serving without a T3/OC3 or LAN setup.

Something I have been looking into is professional server hosting on OC3/OC12. It would be about $400/month but you get a full 10mbps bandwidth on your own dual P4 Xeon/2 gig DDR/SCSI server. If I got 80 people to go in (Not hard when you are involved with clans) it would only come to $5/month. With that much bandwidth, you could have clean 64 player servers!!! Now that's what I call a war! I have a group of people I game with about 200 strong but not alot of them play BF1942. Maybe it would be a good thing to organize here at AT?

 

[stultus]

Well, I'll be limited by hardware, not bandwidth. It's a university connection. I'll check out those sites once I have the computer built. Thanks!

 

[dakels]

well actually, the hardware demands for a DEDICATED server is not as bad as you may think. 99% of the people are limited by bandwidth more then hardware. According to EA/BF's official site and server FAQ, a P4 2.0ghz with decent RAM (I'd say 1gig + DDR) should be able to host 32-64 players. A P3 1.4 ghz should be able to host 32 players. They should be well over 512mb RAM though IMO. BF is a rediculous RAM hog and serving only compounds it. Players won't be too happy if your server is using alot of virtual memory. You also want to make sure your dedicated host is not doing any other tasks both locally or online, like FTP services.

 

[stultus]

Well, I'll have an XP1600 and a dual P3-800 system at my disposal. Your guess is as good as mine as to how many players I can squeeze on.

(Hmm, and it looks like this mobo has a 112 FSB. Maybe this will be closer to P3-900s!)

 

[dakels]

Well, if the server utility and OS fully utilize multiprocessors then the Dual P3 800's should be better... You're just going to have to try it and see. Remember that serving BF requires as much fast RAM as possible. If the P3 only say 512mb PC133 and the athlon has 512mb DDR 2100 or better, then I'd try the DDR board. I'd also buy another stick of RAM. I probably wouldn't bother trying to serve without 768+ RAM. I won't even play BF without at least 512mb RAM (Mines 1gig DDR 3000).

Just give it a shot and see how you do. Try making a 18 player server first. If that works well, push it to 24, then 32. I doubt it will handle over 32 players, even with 1 gig of RAM. If you at least have 512mb then I'd think the athlon should be able to handle 24 players and maybe 32 without too much lag.

all I can say at this point is give it a whirl!