we have a few serveone of them is pretty high spec, we want to use it as a game server and a potenti

AWalnut

AWalnut

AWalnut

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We have a few servers,1 of them is pretty high spec, we want to use it as a game server and a potential hosting service?

Hello, Assistance is required!

a friend recently acquired a server unit from an office building that has gone bust, and we have been planning on hosting a service to either rent out or play on. The specs of the server are the following:
processor: Dual Intel Xeon e5620
- 12m cache
-2.4ghz Hyperthreadded​
Ram: 24gb
10 gigabit ports

we also have 3 other 2005 servers with dual single core Hyperthreadded 3ghz Xeons and 6-8gb ram each, although we are probably going to use them as media servers as they wont be of any use as long as we have the powerful one! just as a side note, we do not have a cooling solution apart from a few desk fans although they will be running in a secure open room with access to the outside air, and probably wont be running 24/7 if we decide to keep the server private. It will be hosted on my home broadband of which has 100mbps download and 50mbps upload.

Starting from the basics, how would we go about setting up the server initially? , what are the essentials to install for this server?, and would we go down the route of creating virtual machines with dedicated cores for specific servers as we are planning on running more than one type on this machine.(minecraft, teamspeak, possible other game and web servers etc.)
Help would be much appreciated as we are new to this type of server management.

Oh, and as a side note, we plan to keep the costs at a minimum too, like installing Linux instead of windows etc!
 
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The 3 "other" servers are basically junk, they will use loads of power and have basically no performance, especially if you plan to virtualise.

You might struggle with just 24GB RAM in the first box but it is a good start - get ESXi on there and have a play!
 
Teamspeak will be difficult as it requires licences to host more than something like 20 slots. You would be better looking at mumble (the server is called murmur) which is opensource and free to host.
 
Danny091 said:
Teamspeak will be difficult as it requires licences to host more than something like 20 slots. You would be better looking at mumble (the server is called murmur) which is opensource and free to host.
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yeah, i am going to only use it for like 8 people maximum :)
 
DRZ said:
The 3 "other" servers are basically junk, they will use loads of power and have basically no performance, especially if you plan to virtualise.

You might struggle with just 24GB RAM in the first box but it is a good start - get ESXi on there and have a play!
Click to expand...

okay, thanks! the 24gb of ram and the processors should host a decent minecraft server for about 200+ people surely?
 
Bonjour, I'm the friend,

Little bit of extra information regarding the server, and where its running location will be:
Its an Oracle Sun Fire X4170, and has a couple of 146GB 10,000rpm drives in it.
Its going to be put in a garage, as Walnut said, but its not going to be in a server cabinet. Our plans are (as we're trying to keep it as cheap as possible) to mount it out of the way, across a few planks of wood spanning the beams in the roof. The roof is completely open, and isn't a closed space.

Will keeping the thing cool be an issue in such an open space? And also, will dust be an issue in an environment like a garage?

Also any other concerns you have...

Thanks for the replies guys.
 
mattyjim123 said:
- will dust be an issue in an environment like a garage?
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The garage doesn't tend to get dusty, the floor is concrete, not much dust reaches the top levels of the garage, and even then, the server will be regularly maintained.
curious about the cooling, if we decide to use it as a public server, then we'll have to gain a loyal playerbase, and then offer donation privelidges to pay for cooling.. :/ otherwise we have no way of buying/paying for the cooling.:(
 
DJMK4 said:
Have you taken in account things like running costs? Electricity, also bandwidth?
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almost, we've been considering them, electricity should only be a few quid more a month surely, with a 1000w powersupply?, not that im sure of how much it will actually draw,
 
Your issue in a garage is going to be around the steadyness of the environmentals. A big enough room can keep a server at a reasonable operating temperature. Your problem will arise if the garage isn't heated in autumn/spring when the temps drop way below 0c overnight but go above 0c during the day. If the temps in the garage follow this pattern you will suffer really badly from condensation. Similarly, in summer the temps in the garage might skyrocket (especially in a roof space) and you might run into issues in there.

VMWare ESXi is free to download - install it on your server and then create virtual machines which pretty much feel just like a normal server to use. You'll need the Linux/Windows CD/ISO to get going, of course.

I have no idea what the CPU/RAM requirements are for Minecraft but you'll be able to see how your resources are going from inside Windows or on the ESX host itself.

This is going to cost you a significant amount of money in power to keep going btw, I hope you realise this :)
 
While hosting stuff like minecraft, etc. probably isn't a problem on a home connection, hosting stuff like FPS games certainly can be and hosting web servers and faster paced multiplayers on the same home connection + possibly other use will not result in the best experience potentially even with QoS in place.
 
yeah, i just did a quick calculation and for a 12hr uptime it should cost just under £20 a month extra with 760w, i think a 24/7 server isnt an option due to the electricity.

thanks for pointing out condensation, as that could be an issue.. we will have to take it inside during that period.. :/
 
Shouldn't cost you that much - I've a little experience with multi CPU Xeon 5xxx based servers and running one even with moderately heavy load for a month should be well under £20 unless your electricity is really expensive.
 
oh okay! that's good news, i haven't asked my dad how much it costs, but he seemed to think it wouldn't cost that much either when i spoke to him about it,
 
is esxi really free? Though it was 60 day trial, I have the full licenced copy of 5.1 with a legit key from work, didn't know there was a free version,if there is is may come with a few limitations so watch out for that
 
DJMK4 said:
is esxi really free? Though it was 60 day trial, I have the full licenced copy of 5.1 with a legit key from work, didn't know there was a free version,if there is is may come with a few limitations so watch out for that
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oh right, thanks for the heads up!

thanks a lot for your help guys, its really helpful!
 
In the case of environmental conditions changing rapidly, will this actually damage the server, or just cause it to temporarily malfunction? If its the latter, we could run the server in the suggested configuration, and see whether malfunction does occur, and then look at other options.

If it can cause damage, however, I think we'll have to think a bit better about its location haha

EDIT: 200th post... HUZZAAAAAAHHHH
 
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DJMK4 said:
is esxi really free? Though it was 60 day trial, I have the full licenced copy of 5.1 with a legit key from work, didn't know there was a free version,if there is is may come with a few limitations so watch out for that
Click to expand...

The hypervisor is free.
 
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