What hardware would be needed for a Coh server?

[Ironwolf]

What server side stuff would you need?

What network level are we talking about to host say a 100 player connection?

250 players?

500 players?

I know there is nothing concrete currently but let's brainstrom this to get some ideas to refer to possibly later.

[Tanklet]

Glad this question was asked. I'm curious as well. My other half is a server admin, and I've done client administration and some programming. So if I knew hardware and software requirements, I'd be more than interested in hosting a shard myself.

[Surelle]

And maybe because CoH's turn-based engine is probably 11 years old or so (counting original development time), it wouldn't take the cutting-edge hardware that a much newer game like Tera, which requires tracking players and combat in real-time with a modified version of the Unreal 3 engine, would take.

I'd be curious to know this, too.

[Ironwolf]

I was thinking of:

1 x ASUS KGPE-D16 SSI EEB 3.61 Server Motherboard
4 x Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB raid/mirror
1 x PNY VCQ5000-PB Quadro 5000 2.5GB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Workstation Video Card
4 x Kingston 64GB (4 x 16GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 ECC Registered Server Memory DR x4 1.35V Model KVR13LR9D4K4/64
 DDR3 1333 ECC Registered Cas Latency 9
1 x AMD Opteron 6272 Interlagos 2.1GHz Socket G34 115W 16-Core Server Processor OS6272WKTGGGUWOF
1 x SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 ST2000DL004 2TB
1 x Noctua NH-U9DO A3 AMD Opteron CPU Cooler
CyberPower Professional PR3000SWRM2U 3000VA 2000W (4) NEMA 5-15R / (2) NEMA 5-20R / (1) NEMA 5-30R Outlets UPS

I know this is overkill but for under $10,000ish you would have a screaming server with memory and hard drive access unmatched.

Now network wise I am not sure what the drag would be?

[houtex]

Servers do not require bad ass video cards.  Game servers especially.  They are data movers and calculating machines.  That's it.

Not that getting a cheap video card will save a ton of money on that, but it's less to worry about, and maybe you can add something to make it move data faster on the network or calculate more or whatever is needed.
 
Network wise, the drag would be totally about the connection up and down.  Locally, it shouldn't be an issue.  On the intarwebs, it would be.  You'd just have to see, provided you can get one started.

[Codewalker]

MMO-style games are typically better served by an array of several less expensive machines rather than one big one. Spreading out the load is one of the reasons that they have maximum group sizes and tend to do the high end (i.e. complex) raid content either in instances or in far off zones that are not usually frequented.

[Mister Bison]

MMO-style games are typically better served by an array of several less expensive machines rather than one big one. Spreading out the load is one of the reasons that they have maximum group sizes and tend to do the high end (i.e. complex) raid content either in instances or in far off zones that are not usually frequented.

That's why people usually come up with the P2P idea, but they forget 3 things:
- up-bandwidth is generally too low to use everybody as a server or part of the network;
- everybody is behind a NAT and can't set it up properly;
- there is the trust-another-computer issue (or allow cheating/mods).

[LadyShin]

Liquid cooled rack server.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5e9_cqFiNE

This features server components immersed in a nonconductive coolant fluid (Such as Novec 7000), hooked up to a heat exchanger line.

 

[srmalloy]

Servers do not require bad ass video cards.  Game servers especially.  They are data movers and calculating machines.  That's it.

I have to agree; a basic video card sufficient to serve the desktop of whatever OS the server runs is sufficient, and the cost savings from that could be dumped back into a network card, either gigabyte Ethernet or optical fiber for maximum bandwidth to where it hits the  external network feed.

[Victoria Victrix]

If you were only going to run it inhouse your main need would be RAM and lots of it.