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Building a server questions

S

SportyGuy220

Gawd
Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Messages
556
Hey ive always wondered about building a server and what kinda equipment you would need. Ive heard of p3 servers but how well does that work. If you guys could give me some closure on what kinda parts you would use to build a decent server. 2) what parts would you need to build a high performance server? 3) what kinda parts is more important in server building. I.E. ram, cpu, raid, stuff like that.Thanks fellas
 
A server is defined by the software and applications it runs.....what does it "serve" to it's client base. Only you can answer these questions. Decide what the server will do and then that will dictate the parts you need. For example, a database server needs a ton of memory and fast disk access for many operations at once. A file server really only needs a ton of storage, with a good backup plan. The list is pretty much endless. Decide on the tasks, and then you'll know what hardware to use.
 
ok, well say what you would need to run a game server?

also what are some kinds of servers that are out there. You got to understand im totally new to server stuff. thanks
 
I wouldn't even think about running a dedicated game server enless you had a T1 connection or higher.

It also depends what OS it runs on. Think of something else to do with it. Why would you want to set up a server when you don't even know what to do with it?

If you want a game server, go rent one.


Specs for a Game Server:
Dual Processors, something extremly fast. Usually dual 2.5 GHZ or higher.
At least 1.2 GB of ram
Hard Drive Size Varies depending what game your hosting

Go look at server rentals and check out their specs. Try http://www.datsgamingservers.com/serverspecs.htm
 
Data servers as in storage and backup for other users in the network?

My Storage Server Specs:

10 80 GB Hard Drives
P4 2.6 GHZ
1 GB RAM

For a storage server, all you need is hard drives, fast CPU, and a lot of memory. Using a crappy video card is fine to set it up, you don't need sound, or anything like that. Try to get a nice mobo for it and make sure the BUS speed is 533 MHZ or more. I also use my storage server to host 2 printers. Another tip is to plug a regular 100 MBPS cable into it for the network. Wireless would be too unsafe and too slow.

What I have is more then enough for what I need to use with it. You should also look at server operating systems. I use Windows 2000 Advanced Server Edition on both of my servers. I'm gonna wait a while b4 I get Windows 2003.

I'm still puzzled why you want a server when you don't even know what to do with it. :confused:
 
if you want a local gaming server, (not on the internet just in your house) then you dont need much cpu and ram are more important than storage.

if you want a local file, or datta server, storage is more important

if you want your server to be a dedicated online server, a good, consistant profeshinal ISP is needed.

my server... dule P3 1ghz, 3x 512 PC133 ram, 30g HD, 4x 160g HD, Geforce 3 vid card, DVD-RW.

its a back up gaming rig (or for company, it plays UT04 ok) all my PTP software is on it, and it holds all my music and videos so i can wach family guy anyplace in my house i can get some cat5 to (so, anyplace)

the 4 HDs where in raid 0 but i moved the pc to another room and the raid contaner broke i lost some things i didnt back up but not too much, so im not gonna do raid with this mobo again.
 
You customize your server for what you want to do. If you want a file server, all you need is a basic computer with a bunch of hard drive space that is network accessible. If you want a game server, build a semi-fast computer that runs the dedicated server program of the certain game. A good amount of ram is nice to have, but even a P3 runs most things well (ftp, etc). You certainly don't need dual xeons and 4 gigs of ram, your most basic system can do it.
 
So you want to build a server...

1. Decide the task of your server. If it is going to be a multi purpose test box ok. What applications do you want to run and what roles do you envision for this server.

2. Decide the most appropriate OS. I say go with a variant of nix. Either Unix or Linux of your flavor. Nothing beats multitasking command lines remote admind. This would make it so you don't even need to keep a video card in the box. ;)

3. With a minimalistic OS installed to do just what you need it to do compiled to your system your system needs for processor power and memory go down. But with prices like they are... A nice P4 2.4c with a gig of memory should do whatever you need it to do for a small user community. Then you can add storage to grow on. As much as you need. This will define wether or not you need a raid controller and budget helps to decide this. A riad of say 6 200gb sata drives running raid 5 will give you 1TB of storage with some redundancy to boot. Put all of the drives in swappable enclosures.

This will give you the education that you want from building a server. ANd allow you to host some kick butt lan's.

Just my advice mind you.
 
Our team leases two gaming servers.

Our 20 player SOF2 server is a Athlon 1.4ghz, 512MB RAM, running Linux.

Our 16 player Battlefield Vietnam server Specs are: dual Athlon MP 2600+, 1.5GB of ECC 2100 RAM, dual Seagate 10,000 RPM drives, on a Tyan Thunder K7 board running Windows Server 2003.

As you can see, they vary drasticly. It all depends on the game.

The most important thing is the connection to the internet. Our BFV server located in the prestigious United States Bandwidth Exchange Building. This facility is the only in the nation to have all 4 of the major Tier 1 providers fully meshed using BGP in the same facility.

We were trying to experiment with our SOF2 server and hosting it ourselves. It was on a P4 1.5 with 1GB RAM. But once you had 5 players on, it would disconnect everyone. The problem was the connection, which was a 1mbit cable connection. Worked great with low pings on four or less.

I also have a server at home. I use it for FTP and HTTP running Microsoft IIS on WinXP Pro. It also plays mp3's into my home stereo and serves as storage space for files. It is a Celeron 400 with 768MB RAM. It works great for that purpose.
 
my server specs are in my sig.

no sound, no monitor hooked up.
I use RDP to access it, so i don't need a keyboard/mouse or monitor hooked up to it.

it's a file/ftp server. i also use it to download stuff with, as it's on all the time. It's also a print server, but you can do that with just about anything...
 
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