Windows Based Server

[Tdata]

I have a rather interesting, to myself anyway, question. Does anyone know of a host that sells blank servers that you can install Windows or Linux based servers onto? I ask because a lot of the servers I have looked at charge you based on which server type you pick. I have my own copy of WinServer I would be happy to use to offset the cost, but I can't find one that allows such things.

If not could you tell me of a host fitting these parameters:

• 1gb Space
• 100gb transfer
• 1gb Ram (512 works, but since I will be using MySQL...)
• Full Remote Desktop
• Under $100 a year...

*note I intend to host my Game's server off of this.

 

[rey meustrus]

How did you come across your copy of server? That OS is extremely expensive! In any case, unless you desperately need ASP, Microsoft SQL Server, or .NET framework, you should go for a linux server anyway. Sure, no remote desktop, but if you're serious about doing server stuff you should be comfortable doing things from a command line (or over FTP/cPanel, if you can't afford a dedicated server)

 

[DeM0nFiRe]

You won't find anything that will be able to run your game for under $100 a year. For a dedicated server where you can actually run an online game server, you are looking at closer to $100 a month. You could try a VPS, but even then it's closer to $50 a month or more to get one that would be able to act as a game server.

Also, there will not be many if any places that will let you install an OS on their machines. The primary reason is that they don't want to have to go through the hassle of making sure you have a legit license for the OS. You could try looking for a cheap colocation place, but colocation is usually not very cheap, plus you have to buy the hardware.

Basically, you're not likely to find what you are looking for. If you do, please let me know, I've been looking for like a year and a half.

 

[Tdata]

^_^ My server is a little thing... 24kb... It's only purpose it to be a pass-through. All it does it check a DB and send the stuff along... It doesn't even do calculations... ^_^

As for where I got the software. I am a student so I got it for free...

Since the server is written in C#, I do of course need .NET.

 

[DeM0nFiRe]

The executable itself may be small, but having it deal with multiple connections at once and having a bunch of accesses to the database at once will give you a big hit on RAM. Basically, if your game is simple enough that you won't need 1 or 2Gb minimum then you might as well set up a cheap box in your own home, because everything else is too expensive. If I had a wide enough bandwidth, I'd be setting up a server in my house.

 

[Tdata]

I made a Performance test yesterday to test how much ram it eats per active connection. It was also a stress test for the server. My little server can handle 1024 connections before actively refusing them and with those 1024 connections constantly calling the server to query the db, it used 256mb of ram... Now, when I ran another server with a different port number with the other running it jumped to 765mb of ram under the same conditions. What I don't understand is the 1024 limit, but not really a huge issue. if I have 1024 people trying to access the server at the same time, I will have other issues.. ^_^

 

[DeM0nFiRe]

I think the 1024 limit is a limitation of the OS and of the language. I think there are ways around it, but in any case you wouldn't want that. If you are going to try to make a real MMO, real MMOs don't allow that many people on one server.

Also, in a good client<->server application (By good, I mean secure) there should be as little as possible happening on the client side so that the server can protect the information. The ram usage will probably be a lot more than that when you have actual processing going on.

 

[Tdata]

It will never be a MMO... ^_^ MO yes, MMO, no. And as for the connection limitations, they don't bother me much. I plan to take the MMO way of dealing with it. Login Server, Battle Server, etc...

 

[DeM0nFiRe]

I dunno, you might be able to find something pretty cheap then. Not $100 a year cheap, maybe $250 - $300 a year.

Actually, have you considered using Mono on Linux? You can compile and run .net applications using mono. Check it out: http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page

If you do that, your VPS costs are going to drop by $10 to $20 per month. Check out this place: https://www.burst.net/linvps.shtml

Now, I've never used them so I can't vouch for them beyond what I see on that page.