Raven Shield Clan Servers

[SBS_Snail]

Hi All,

We are a Raven Shield clan looking for a new server, hopefully in middle of next month or sooner.

I do however have a few questions I would like to ask first.

1:- How configurable are the servers?
2:- Is there FTP access?
3:- In the event of a crash can it be stopped and restarted via webcontrol panel or similar or is it a mail to tech support jobby or IRC?

Hope someone can help me with the above questions

Snaily

[Say_Ten]

1:- How configurable are the servers?
Completely, you have full access to the config files. Certain values are restricted in their settings to control server resource usage.

2:- Is there FTP access?
No, to add maps and things you need to contact technical support. However, due to the way we do these things we don't restrict you on content size.

3:- In the event of a crash can it be stopped and restarted via webcontrol panel or similar or is it a mail to tech support jobby or IRC?
You get what we call Clan Forge, it's a web interface to control all parts of your server. Not just stopping and starting but access to your config files and abstraction of many of the basic settings in those config files. So to save you looking for your rcon password there's a form field which is easier to find than ploughing through a config file.

If you have any further questions then please just ask. If you want immediate assistance then please join #mpukhosting on quakenet.

[GeeDee]

Also, if you wanted more info on ClanForge; check out the guide here (http://gaming.multiplay.co.uk/help/clanforge_guide.htm)

:)

[SBS_Snail]

Thanks for the quick response. Every thing seems fine apart from the lack of FTP access. Asking support to upload the maps is not a problem for us, we dont usually play many mod maps anyway but we do like to have access to the Punkbuster folder to view logs and screenshots so there maybe issues we may have there.

The only other minor issue we have is that we add a couple of lines of extra of data to two files in the servers game directory.
These few lines are for a Server News Script and Remote Admin Utility. Along with these we also upload one small file (UDP Beacon) that allows info from game to be transmitted to webpage or stats program.

The Server News Script welcomes players into server, lays out some basic rules (no tk'ing, cheating etc) and advertises our web URL. The Remote Admin Utility is used so we can Admin the server without actually being on the server, it will kick for excess TK'ing, high pings etc but most of all is useful if server is full and no members are unable to get in.

Once again thanks for the info.

Snaily

[Bad-Co]

As a clan that rent a server box from MPUK,

The small issues you've listed above are easily resolved.
Adding data to the server directory is not hard task. And the mpuk staff are more than willing to help.

FTP access, from a custom map POV, get the popular ones uploaded, you don't have to run them in rotation, but remote admin can change when needed.


Our servers have been faultless. And the customer service from MPUK is exceptional..

I'd recommend a server from them any day..

Good luck

[Limpet]

If you don't want to modify the PB stuff it is possible to configure PB to move the logs and images to another directory or machine using a configured script (of course you would need access to this area via http or someother protocol). Maybe The GameBSD Lite package which comes with the server?

[GeeDee]

Whilst we realise that many other GSPs give clans FTP access to their server; you have to understand that our service is managed in a totally different way. Allow me to explain.

All our server management is handled by the backend LanForge system (the same system that powers the i-series events) and clans can control their server by way of the front end ClanForge system. The entire system actually works as a whole. When a clan submits a new map to be added - we add it to the system and it then becomes available on every single server we run globally - and anyone can add it to their rotations via ClanForge. The same goes for mods of any type. As a result, especially for our more popular games, we now have a colossal collection of maps and mods available to all our customers who can simply select, or deselect it as they wish. Therefore you may well find the maps you wanted adding are already available. If not, we will add them for you within 24hrs.

Full and complete config file editing is also available to clanserver customers. The ClanForge system allows you to edit your configs, add new files, delete files etc as you wish - it even checks key settings for out of range values - such as something that could consume far too much CPU on a box - which makes things harder to break by accident.

With regards to log file access; you currently need to request them to be sent to you - but I believe this is something that is currently being worked on.

Take a look at the ClanForge user guide here (http://gaming.multiplay.co.uk/help/clanforge_guide.htm) for further information on the system.

:)

Giles.