Game Server connection requirements?

Bones · 16 Jan 2006 at 16:19

I am thinking of running my own game server for Return to Castle wolfenstein (Quake3 engine) and was wondering if my connection will be enough to support at least 14 players. i have a 10mb line which i am sure is also 10mb upload aswell cos when i upload files onto ftp i get 1mb per sec upload.

If this connection is plenty could i run multiple games like a Q4 server aswell for 3v3 matches?

thanks

Phil99 · 16 Jan 2006 at 16:42

Well, for this I'll assume you own the connection and have full access to the modem/router you connect through.

1MB/s up is 8mbps, so yeah, that sounds right.

That will easily cope with RTCW, probably up to 64 players (hell, I ran about 10 on 256kbps ADSL)

All you need to do is point the appropriate range of ports to the server, though I forget what these are now.

What is the connection by the way? If it's a Uni connection you stand approximately 0 chance of running a game server to the outside world most of the time.

edit:

Profile said:
Occupation:
Network manager

Go for it!

Bones · 16 Jan 2006 at 16:55

lol busted!!!

thanks for the help

HangTime · 16 Jan 2006 at 18:15

A 10mbit connection should handle up to 64 clients without too much hassle (gives about 16k/sec each). Obviously if this is a shared connection that would need to be taken into consideration.

However bear in mind that if your server gets full it will likely have quite a hefty cpu/memory requirement. A quick google suggests that you should have around 30mjz per client slot and 128meg free memory. So, something like a 2ghz cpu and 256meg ram should be sufficient, assuming it's a dedicated server.

axer · 18 Jan 2006 at 08:02

16k/sec is a little overkill, older games require only about 3-5k upstream at the most

HangTime · 18 Jan 2006 at 16:05

Indeed, but I was under the impression that RTCW had maxclients 64 anyway

.

Also bear in mind that while 3-5k/sec seems ok as an average, peak bandwidth usage on a server with a large number of clients can exceed that, e.g. if a large number of players are in a big open space together shooting particle weapons. In cases like that some of the clients can be using upwards of 20k/sec, assuming the server and client both allow high enough rates.