Hey guys, If i want to host PT Server without a Dedicated server, With 2GB of memory, How much player i can hold without lag?, and how about if i want to have only 10 and under of players?(Personal server)
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Hey guys, If i want to host PT Server without a Dedicated server, With 2GB of memory, How much player i can hold without lag?, and how about if i want to have only 10 and under of players?(Personal server)
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Goooood luck :lol:Quote:
Hey guys, If i want to host PT Server without a Dedicated server
Your link need to be fast. I think 4gb is a great size.
Lol thanks so 4Gb for public? How much players can i hold without lag with that memory?
edit: What about if i want to host only 10 players and under how much memory? is 2GB ok?
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In contradiction to my learned and honourable friend SheenBR I think 4 Gig is a ridiculous amount of memory to allocate a PT server. How-ever many players you intend to support.Quote:
Originally Posted by 4znlyfe
You can specify maximum players in the server configuration. (that's easy, look it up)
The usual server (it's self) cannot utilise more than 2Gb memory, anything more than that is only useful for SQL database, OS and caching.
The server *will* crash if you regularly have more than 40 players anyway. That's just the nature of it. (specifically, there is a memory leak when players join and part... I guess some Private servers have profiled this and minimised it's impact by fixing, or cleaning up after the *bug*, but that isn't information which is publicly available)
Lag is completely unrelated to memory. (unless you have a system deficit anyway and are running largely from the swap file) The real bottleneck is usually "bandwidth". What is the minimum constant upload speed of your server? That is what will cause lag as your players increase.
It also causes more lag if players "congregate" (Ric square) or spend a lot of time in parties and clans. If everyone works solo and hunts on the same field but on a different spawn, bandwidth use is minimal. (but then you aren't really playing an MMO are you. :wink:)
The bigger your "hellspawns" the more RAM your server will use too. The monster population of your server is a big memory and CPU eater.
PT runs entirely on TCP, not UTP so there is no possibility to "multicast". Any global packet must be issued once per player. This eats bandwidth server side when you have many players to broadcast to. (Sheen knows this well, but has possibly not connected the dots to realise how limiting that factor is)
The more maps are actively being played in, the more memory your server will require. So, number of fields supported by you server is likely to be the deciding factor for when you run out of memory. However, you cannot exceed the x86 boundary of 2Gig without patching the server... and cannot exceed 4Gig unless you re-write the entire server as an x64 / ia64 / .Net MSIL application. ^_^ (that would be a "fun" project)
Also, much of the "lag" perceived by players in highly populated areas is "screen lag" not "server lag". The client handles highly populated areas very badly. It causes updates to the screen buffer tens to hundreds of times without every actually updating the display. :(:
Personally, I would consider 1Gig sufficient for up to 100 players. A daily reboot of the entire server is always a good idea. Declare 24 hour scheduled maintenance, stick to it, and leave it at that.
However, host OS is critical in deciding what your minimum memory requirement is.NT4 can boot with less that 32Meg consumed even while running IIS and MS SQL.
Server 2000 / 2003 can be customised to get very close to NT4 resource usage with much better caching, stability and security. (they can also use much newer, faster and more scalable versions of IIS and MS SQL server)
2008 Server will (perceivably [see later]) require something like 1.25Gig before you start IIS and MS SQL server, let alone your PT server and does not allow you to disable the most resource hungry services, :(: but it also "lies" about free resources. Specifically it utilises every little bit of your physical RAM and swap file for it's caching purposes.If you are not using a 64-bit server, then Windows cannot support more than 3 and a bit Gig of physical RAM in total across all processes, let alone your PT server. (swap files and paging is a different issue, but that can cause lag in it's self unless you run from a "solid state" drive) The PT server is not designed to run on a 64-bit OS, and requires several "workarounds" to make it sit comfortably on such OS.Spoiler:
Finally: You state that you don't want to use a "Dedicated" server. Many people don't know the difference between a Dedi and a VPS. A VPS (Virtual Private Server) is perfectly acceptable as an alternative to a Dedicated server, and the differences are pretty much transparent to the server operator. (ie. you)
What you will notice (or may not realise, but be confused by) is the fact that bandwidth, CPU and Memory allocation to your VPS may also be only a "virtual" allocation, and the "real" or physical allocation is changing dynamically behind the scenes, as controlled by the virtual host.
This is usually achieved by means of running a server farm of Virtual machines running on multiple physical hosts. (something like ESXi VM Hypersphere or vCenter)
If you are talking about running on physical hardware at home, however, then you really have to consider what your ISP will allow, how you manage your Router(s) and the reliability of your "always on" internet connection. Many ISPs get snotty when you start running a P-Server from home, and request that you upgrade to a "business" or "service provider" package from them, as the profiling of your internet traffic will no longer match the normal house-hold usage, and cause their routing and QoS servers no end of headaches. :wink:
I know pt server doesnt use that much of memory, but I'm assuming you'd run Apache or IIS, whichever, SQL Server, background programs...
Oh... I would definitely avoid having any background programs running.
IIS and Apache are quite happy to run on a machine with 16Meg RAM between them. I know large multi-national financial institutions find several terrabytes of RAM restrictive for the millions of transactions a second their server process, but even Google is usually happy with its' distributed processing system and very little RAM on each node.
PT is very very simple by comparison.
It's not uncommon to rent Web hosting, especially if you use home PC for the game server... but the data connection for Clan pages can be troublesome, or "risky".
I would also recommend that your server PC run as few of Windows default background services as possible.http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/999/image2ksq.pngLess services, less memory, less CPU, less potential points of entry for an attacker.
Complete list of active and automatic services on my PT server,
I just had a thought. Server side, maps are loaded so npc's and monsters don't fall through the world.
I wonder if you remove all images and remake the maps, create it as simple and boxy as possible, remove all high polygon objects/houses replace with simple barriers.
Making each map only a meg or so.
Not only would it free up a gig or so of drive space, perhaps it would free up ram, as only the map is generated, not thousands of useless images that no one is going to see anyway.
Perhaps the same could be done with npc's and monsters? Make em all simplistic models, reducing server load.
Just a thought hehe :P
Correct... but I've done some work around here with the code and files. Let me tell you what a programmer saw.
I make a habit of removing all BMPs and TGAs from the Char and Field folders after moving them to the server. (because it's a waste of space)
That alone doesn't affect the servers performance or memory footprint, however. Since I've traced it's "map loading" routines, and in server mode it ignores all the references to textures anyway.
It does reduce the disk space requirement a fair bit though.
Actually removing the references from the ASE, and certainly reducing the poly-count would definitely reduce the memory requirement of a server with a high map count though.
I think most of the official maps are fairly low in polies. Especially because they all have to be loaded in the client at once, with no vector LOD maps like modern games. But I do wonder if the numerous "tiles" which run along a plane and vary only in their texture couldn't be "merged" though.
The "invisible walls" which prevent players falling though map holes, may also be applied to monsters... but I certainly can't see a need for them server side in towns. ^_^
The "shrubs" and pretty much anything "wind, render later" can definitely go. As can water, and anything else which can be walked through as though it where not there.
The server also has no need for the hills, mountains and other distant terrain beyond the "invisible walls" around most maps.
The maps, and the monsters and PCs are used in "collision detection". Yes, not only to prevent monster and NPC spawns from falling through to an abyss, but also in determining when two meshes are close enough to engage in melée combat, and when a ranged attack has "line of sight" to it's target. (though that doesn't always work quite right)
It may be possible to ditch the tops of tall and un-climbable (by monsters) towers / trees etc. but that may also make LOS easier for ranged attackers to "shoot through". You'd have to try. :wink: