Wizzo
29th January 2003, 22:37
Well they've been a while coming, but after getting a dedicated win2k box for bf1942 now live in Telehouse we're ready to start offering Battlefield 1942 clanservers. This game has quite a few issues that many other games we support don't have, which have meant putting together packages that are both affordable and offer clans the service they need has been a challenge.
The main issue with Battlefield 1942 is the sheer amount of CPU it uses. This is a lot better than it was in the earlier versions, but still presents a major issue with the game. For example, a 32-player server will use between 30% and 40% of the total CPU on our test box, which is a dual Xeon 2.4 GHz machine! From our experiences in the BF1942 clan scene, we believe 24-player servers are the optimum number for clan matches, which tend to be 12v12 at most. One of these servers when full will use 20% to 25% of our test box, so were we to do a 1:1 contention on the servers, we would only be able to fit 4 servers on a dual 2.4 Xeon. This does not make things very cost-effective for 1:1 contention servers.
The bandwidth usage of BF1942 compared to other servers is quite shocking. We're talking a 40-player server using 3 megabits of bandwidth. Compare this to one of our other servers running 12 busy CS servers which at best will hit around 1 megabit. This of course has an impact on the cost.
Now in the current climate, to make BF1942 servers public, is to make them full 24/7. Take a look at the MPUK public servers and you will see what I mean. They sit maxxed out almost all the time. As a result of this the cost of running a public BF1942 is significantly higher than say the cost of running a public CS server (which let's be honest are two-to-a-penny <g>).
So how do we provide a good service, whilst at a reasonable cost for these servers? Well we have decided to offer 24-player private servers. To further get the cost down, we would propose to run 6 servers on a box, anticipating that no more than 4 clans out of the 6 will be playing a match at the same time. Given that it takes 4 completely full 24-player servers to hit 100% CPU, and many matches are considerably less players than this, I don't see any problems with us maxxing out the box at this contention ratio.
So what are the costs? Well for a 24-player private server on 6:4 contention we will be charging £70 inc. VAT per month. If a clan really wants a public server, we would have to price this at 1:1 contention, assuming the server will almost always be full when not in match mode. As a result this would cost £105 inc. VAT per month. Quite a difference!
These are 1 month contracts. We won't tie you into a 3-month contract as standard. However, if you pay for 3-months up front we'll give you a 10% discount on the cost (ain't we nice :))
How will you be able to admin your server? Well the excellent remote console app developed by that genius at www.blackbagops.com is just the trick, and allows you to modify the majority of the server settings remotely using it's friendly GUI.
Sound good? Well call us on (023) 8024 3137 to order your server, or come hassle us in #mpukhosting on Quakenet IRC. If you'd like to try out the MPUK publics first, try out one of the servers below:
212.42.1.243:14567 (pass joyful) - Multiplay.co.uk Public (40 player)
212.42.10.165:14567 - Multiplay.co.uk Public #2 (32-player)
Discuss :)
The main issue with Battlefield 1942 is the sheer amount of CPU it uses. This is a lot better than it was in the earlier versions, but still presents a major issue with the game. For example, a 32-player server will use between 30% and 40% of the total CPU on our test box, which is a dual Xeon 2.4 GHz machine! From our experiences in the BF1942 clan scene, we believe 24-player servers are the optimum number for clan matches, which tend to be 12v12 at most. One of these servers when full will use 20% to 25% of our test box, so were we to do a 1:1 contention on the servers, we would only be able to fit 4 servers on a dual 2.4 Xeon. This does not make things very cost-effective for 1:1 contention servers.
The bandwidth usage of BF1942 compared to other servers is quite shocking. We're talking a 40-player server using 3 megabits of bandwidth. Compare this to one of our other servers running 12 busy CS servers which at best will hit around 1 megabit. This of course has an impact on the cost.
Now in the current climate, to make BF1942 servers public, is to make them full 24/7. Take a look at the MPUK public servers and you will see what I mean. They sit maxxed out almost all the time. As a result of this the cost of running a public BF1942 is significantly higher than say the cost of running a public CS server (which let's be honest are two-to-a-penny <g>).
So how do we provide a good service, whilst at a reasonable cost for these servers? Well we have decided to offer 24-player private servers. To further get the cost down, we would propose to run 6 servers on a box, anticipating that no more than 4 clans out of the 6 will be playing a match at the same time. Given that it takes 4 completely full 24-player servers to hit 100% CPU, and many matches are considerably less players than this, I don't see any problems with us maxxing out the box at this contention ratio.
So what are the costs? Well for a 24-player private server on 6:4 contention we will be charging £70 inc. VAT per month. If a clan really wants a public server, we would have to price this at 1:1 contention, assuming the server will almost always be full when not in match mode. As a result this would cost £105 inc. VAT per month. Quite a difference!
These are 1 month contracts. We won't tie you into a 3-month contract as standard. However, if you pay for 3-months up front we'll give you a 10% discount on the cost (ain't we nice :))
How will you be able to admin your server? Well the excellent remote console app developed by that genius at www.blackbagops.com is just the trick, and allows you to modify the majority of the server settings remotely using it's friendly GUI.
Sound good? Well call us on (023) 8024 3137 to order your server, or come hassle us in #mpukhosting on Quakenet IRC. If you'd like to try out the MPUK publics first, try out one of the servers below:
212.42.1.243:14567 (pass joyful) - Multiplay.co.uk Public (40 player)
212.42.10.165:14567 - Multiplay.co.uk Public #2 (32-player)
Discuss :)