Server Some question on my server (Linux - Ubuntu).

[Blitzkit]

Hi All,

I am currently hosting a dedicated server on a Linux box (Ubuntu Server Edition) for having games with a few friends. The server is a pretty old machine (1.5 GHz Single Core / 256 MB of RAM - yea dusted it off to just host a server cause running "Host Game" from the actual game triggers General Protection Fault).

The installation and the starting of the server is OK. Players are from Singapore and Japan. We play a few map a night and the ping ranges from ~28ms (me) to ~140ms (JP player) player - but - after playing for a while, the ping will jump to ~230ms (me) to ~440ms (JP player).

Its the machine too underpowered for the running of the server? (asking because the lag happens randomly - doesn't matter at which round the game is in, the number of game of the map being used - some nights it just plays "ok".)

Could it be due to the bandwidth? (nobody was streaming anything on my local network when the lag went up) 8Mbps Down / 512 Mbps Up.

I tried searching for "minimal requirements" for hosting the server, but I was not able to find it.

1) Is it a hardware issue?
2) Should I upgrade my bandwidth instead?
3) Any optimization I can do for the server or the OS itself? (there are so many options in the KillingFloor.ini, I have no idea if all are taken into account when starting the game, "render" settings? for a dedicated server ini file ...)

Thank you for reading, any suggestion/thoughts will be much appreciated.

 

[Tagert]

I would say your ram is pretty low for hosting a game server, so that's probably the cause of the lag that occurs later on.

you can check the ram usage by the kfserver in linux by writing: top
in the console.

 

[Cr@zY-$HeeP]

I concur. I've experienced 'hiccuping' (where the game kind of freezes up for a second or two, and then resumes play) and I have 512MB of system RAM in my server. Usually when I have 4 or 5 people connected to my server, my system reports ~20MB free, which is an unimpressive buffer.

I just grabbed a 1GB stick to toss into my server for $20. The benefit of using an older rig as a server is upgrades are dirt cheap.

Now that I think about it, if you are hosting a server from a rig at your house and you connect to it, you're ping shouldn't be so high... In fact, it should practically be a seamless connection (about 0-3 ping) unless you're connecting over wireless.

Can you run through the steps on how you join your server? Are you connecting via the external IP? If so, that can cause some strange things to happen as well.

 

[TheCasanova]

I am running on:
AMD 64 3500+ 2.20GHz
2 GB Ram ("fast" OCZ)
Windows 7 32bit

It runs pretty much perfect on this config. I might install a linux on a partition later on for my servers. I just host for me and my friends. With 100kb Upstream most people get a 60 ping in my country.

The only thing that seems to cause minor lags for about 1-3 seconds is my internet connection. Despite from that it's fine.
If your Internet connection manages 100kb or 50kb upstream it shouldn't be a problem.
I'd say it's your Ram first and your processor second. But both seem pretty low to run a server on. Quake 3 Server might work

I connect by WLAN to my server and my ping is between 8 and 25. Mostly around 12 though. You should connect by cable or Wlan and check the ping then. If it still is high then it's you machine. If not then it's your connection

 

[Blitzkit]

Thank you for the replies guys, I am guessing its the hardware - since initial game play suggests that the ping is low. The memory usage did spike up when monitored via "top" and after the server is loaded there is about 15mb physical ram left.

Just trying my luck using the old machine .

Not related to this post but the lastest update to KF is awesome!