Your help with a VPS for a Dserver 24/7

[GOA_Walter_Nowotny]

Good morning pilots:

I need the help of someone who has or knows how to have a Dserver in the cloud (or a VPS).
I currently have a Dserver in my house. It is a computer that I prepared precisely to host multiplayer games in IL-2.
The problem is that having it on every day 24/7 sometimes makes me worry about any problem that may occur when no one is home.

My question is how to find a good cloud server provider? What aspects are important to hire one? What type of server does Combat Box or Finn use? Is it a VPS or is it a dedicated cloud server?

I understand that Combat Box has a cloud VPS in North America with good ping to Europe based on the description.

There is too much on offer and too much information, but I get confused and finally do nothing.

Right now my Dserver is: i7 4790K + 32GB Ram + SSD 240Gb+Asus Maximus VII Formula.

I really want to contribute to the development of this simulator through a Dserver 24/7. Currently I have developed 3 campaigns (Lost hope, Langnase Dora and Panzerknacker), but now I want to take this step to a continuous Dserver, if it is finally possible.
I appreciate your help.

Regards, Juan Pablo -GOA_Walter_Nowotny-
Santiago, Chile

[LLv34_Temuri]

Typically, cloud servers are handicapped in running Il-2 dserver, you're better off with a dedicated machine if you want some performance.

I ran a test server in a Hetzner Robot computer (https://www.hetzner.com/sb), but changed to have a machine home, as it's cheaper (and it contributes to the heating of the house).

[GOA_Walter_Nowotny]

On 2/20/2022 at 4:48 AM, LLv34_Temuri said:

Typically, cloud servers are handicapped in running Il-2 dserver, you're better off with a dedicated machine if you want some performance.

I ran a test server in a Hetzner Robot computer (https://www.hetzner.com/sb), but changed to have a machine home, as it's cheaper (and it contributes to the heating of the house).

Thank you for your comments. Looking in that link of Hetzner, they offer a server like mine, I7 4790K.

 

My problem is I am worried about having my PC active 24/7.

I'm afraid something will happen while I'm gone, or while I'm sleeping, I don't know. I don't have ideal facilities to have a server active all day and night (adequate temperature, humidity, etc).?

[DeadMeat0383]

I have had The Unprofessionals in a Datacenter (OVH Hosting) and currently it is hosted from my home. So here is what you can expect:

 

- First thing to take into account is how DServer uses system resources, it doesn't use a lot of RAM (dserver uses around 1-2gb on my server), it uses a lot of CPU but only primarily a single core (so high IPC and clock speed are a must) so if considering a cloud based/datacenter based server this needs to be accounted for.

- Second thing to take into account is bandwidth usage, DServer uses around 20-30mbit when I had around 20-30 people on with spikes up to 50mbit.

 

Now taking the above into account what you need to look for in a server is the following:

- High clock speed (you don't need high core count) so if you can find something with modern cpu's (Intel core i7/i9 10th, 11th or 12th gen, AMD 3000 or 5000 series) then that is best. You can find Xeon based servers with high clock speed as well, I have not tested on the Epyc platform yet so I have no recommendations for that (yet).

- At least 8GB of ram, maybe more but its not hugely needed unless you plan to run other game servers as well.

 

The next thing to take into account is bandwidth usage:

- Cloud servers usually have a data quota per month so this needs to be taken into account as well.

- Bandwidth you would probably want around 50-100mbit.

 

The biggest concern of all... cost.

For me it cost around $140-150AUD per month to have a Core i7 6700k, 32gb Ram, 480gb SSD storage  4tb HDD. The plan had unlimited data and 250mbit bandwidth (with boosting up to 1gbit). Since I decomissioned that server the prices have risen.

 

The reason I moved back to home based hosting was because I wanted to increase the number of games I was hosting and to do that I needed more hardware (4 cores 8 threads is limiting in this respect), so I built up a couple of Ryzen based machines for here at home (3900XT and 5900X) and got myself a 100mbit symmetrical enterprise ethernet connection (business class internet with an SLA) which costs less than it would have cost for me to get a second cloud server.

Also note that I have a requirement for my server to be Australia based so it limited my hosting options significantly.

I can recommend OVH for their dedicated game servers as I had good experience with them.

[GOA_Walter_Nowotny]

1 hour ago, DeadMeat0383 said:

I have had The Unprofessionals in a Datacenter (OVH Hosting) and currently it is hosted from my home......

 

 

Thank you very much for your information and recommendations. Currently I have not yet decided to go with a cloud server because it has a higher cost. But as I mentioned above, I have my apprehensions with a PC on 24/7. How is your experience in that? it is dangerous? I currently work from home and have my PC always ON from 9am to midnight and nothing has ever happened ando sometimes all night. But sometimes I wonder "and if I go on vacation, is it safe to leave it on 24/7?" "What if something happens when I'm not home?"
I know it's important to have a temperature-controlled environment and avoid a hot room, but I have to get the idea out of my head the fear of a PC always ON, I know that. Regards, and thank you very much!

[DeadMeat0383]

12 hours ago, GOA_Walter_Nowotny said:

 

 

Thank you very much for your information and recommendations. Currently I have not yet decided to go with a cloud server because it has a higher cost. But as I mentioned above, I have my apprehensions with a PC on 24/7. How is your experience in that? it is dangerous? I currently work from home and have my PC always ON from 9am to midnight and nothing has ever happened ando sometimes all night. But sometimes I wonder "and if I go on vacation, is it safe to leave it on 24/7?" "What if something happens when I'm not home?"
I know it's important to have a temperature-controlled environment and avoid a hot room, but I have to get the idea out of my head the fear of a PC always ON, I know that. Regards, and thank you very much!

I have multiple machines running 24/7, it's not an issue as long as the machines have suitable conditions (cool dry place with no animals chewing cords etc.)

You do have to maintain the machine, Both physically and software wise (clean out the dust so it keeps it clean, make sure all the latest Updates are install