Renting a server vs. renting a server box.

Garry's Mod general
#1

Well basically I have 2 fairly popular servers at the moment, one 18 slot and one 32 slot (both DarkRP). I use brohoster and while they are good, I just am at the point where I can pay more, for more. I pay a very reasonable amount so I guess I get what I pay for.Well now I am getting fed up with sometimes poor performance of my servers. My 32 slots realistically only holds 24 (anything over that just causes extreme lag, etc.).

Anyway, I want to see a much bigger improvement in performance on the servers, so I was thinking about renting a server box. Basically I want to know, would this give me the improvement I want? And if I do go for a box, is it fairly easy to use (would it be possible for me to use it myself, even though I have no experience in it?). Do most boxes allow you to run 3-4 servers on them?

I was checking out www.killercreation.co.uk for them, but their cheapest one is out of stock (that’s the only one in my price range). I can pay, maximum, 50 Euro a month for it. Would these be good specs for a server box? Would it significantly improve performance?:
Intel Pentium P4 2.8 GHz
1GB PC2700 RAM
80GB 7200 8 MG cache hard drive
Unlimited Bandwidth

Please, if you know of a better place to get one for my budget, post them :)!
Thanks for reading and I hope you have ideas about it. My current invoices are due soon, so I would prefer to get this sorted quickly.

Forgot to mention, I need a European host.

Edit: Read my latest post at the bottom, I found a different provider! :slight_smile:

#2

check this out for dedicated server renting

only problem with this host is the cost of windows licensing

#3

I checked out your link, and it looks really good but to be honest I get very confused when it starts asking me which OS to select and what not. Which “feature” would I be using it for? Hosting, Virtualisation etc. I’m guessing hosting but I’m not sure. And which OS would be best for me? (I need it to be fairly easy to figure out how to use, and fairly cheap). If I’m not missing out anything though, I can get that server box for 215.86 Pounds for 12 months, which is very reasonable. Are those specs decent? Could I host 3-4 servers on it comfortably?

[editline]22nd February 2011[/editline]

Would I need a “KVM over IP” and Firewall?

#4

Have you tried contacting Brohoster about your probleam?

Buy your own box to host is great an all but its a lot of work if you don’t know what you are doing. You don’t get a panel like you do with Brohoster or any other GSP. (That is unless you buy a lincense to TCadmin and install it.)

#5

Aye I have spoken to Brohoster about the problems but as I said, I pay a very reasonable amount and I get what I pay for, which unfortunately isn’t great performance on the servers. The 32 slots server is completely unplayable when over 24 people play on it - even if people hardly have any props etc. I don’t have any dodgy addons so I am quite disappointed with it.
I’ve asked them about my restart issue but apparently my servers are the only ones in the entire company that don’t restart automatically and they can’t do a thing about it. To be quite honest I find their support quite cold. It isn’t nice to have an American hoster with only Americans as support providers if you are European, since I can’t get anything done to the servers until about 6pm (GMT). Several times I have spent the entire day with one of my servers down, because TCAdmin is down, and they don’t fix it until later in the evenings (understandably but annoying).
I get what I pay for though, but now I am at a stage where I want more and I can pay more, if you know what I mean.

I really think my own box is the only way to stop the ridiculous lag issue. I’ve been with several providers over the years but no matter which one I’ve gone for, I’m never 100% happy. I understand that a server can’t be perfect, but I’ve been on servers which are much more stable than mine, which run on their own boxes I’m told. Also, if I get my own box, I’d like to run a 12slot Sandbox server also :slight_smile:

#6

As far as i know, gmod got updated to the TF2 source engine, and, as you can see, the suggested player limit is 24, and not 32

#7

As far as I know, there is no “suggested” player limit. Obviously lower slots will provide better performance, but the performance I currently get is not good enough.
I have been on a full 40 slot DarkRP server before, which had a prop limit of 80. It was as smooth as butter.

#8

sleekservers.com is the best tng around , great prices even better service, check them out http://billing.sleekservers.com/aff.php?aff=037

#9

Sleek servers is absolute shit.
If you are going to get a box and have money, go with Limestone.

#10

Sorry guys, I should have mentioned that I need a European host. Both of those seem to be American-only.

#11

yah well i guess knowing the owners helps :stuck_out_tongue:

#12

You can probably run a few servers off of a solid VPS. I think Allgamer.net has an EU locale, and you could probably get a custom vps to suit your needs by contacting support or joining their irc channel

#13

What exactly is a VPS? I’ve tried researching them but it’s a bit confusing. They are much more stable than normal servers? Are they easy enough to run?

#14

I found this place, it looks pretty good for a virtual server. Could anybody with experience take a look and tell me what you think about it?. Site is here.

#15

After doing a bit more shopping around I found this site called LeaseWeb. They seem to be offering very good servers. This is the one I was looking at:

1 x Intel Dual Core E2180
Dell PowerEdge R200
1GB DDR2
1x250GB SATA2
CentOS 5 (64bit) (Can change OS)
100Mbps Full-Duplex
4000 GB Bandwidth

I’m all set on getting this one, but I really have no experience in running a dedicated server box before (I’ve run plenty of normal GSPs). Would I be able to easily enough manage it? Would anyone be willing to help me out if I needed a bit of help with it? :slight_smile:

Please tell me what you think of the specs, and if it would be adequate to hold 3 Gmod servers. (one 18slot, one 32 slot and one 12 slot).

#16

That would run one 20~ slot server, depending on the gamemode. You are going to need to pay at least 140~ a month to get a box good enough to run 3 servers.