a new server?

[Giz]

Originally Posted by AzH

ok guys, technical wizards,

i have a spare PC lying around here and was thinking about putting up a server.

brief specs are:

cable internet connection @ 1.5 mbps.

60 gig HD

512. RAM (can be expanded)

2600+ AMD ATHLON processor

128mb graphics (it's a geForce i think).

this is my spare PC. it is switched off next to my uber PC. can i use it as a server? it would be 'always on'.

thoughts? guidance? help?

send it over sea's m8! i'll run it.

Ontario,Canada.
p7r2r2
bruce 'gizmo' wayne.
batcave

send it to the address above.

[AzH]

Originally Posted by Angel-Eyes

Do you have Telewest in your neck of the woods?

nah. i just checked your provider and wen to the BlueYonder website. they don't supply my area.

where in the U.K. are you?

[Angel-Eyes]

West Yorkshire, Bradford. I did hear that NTL were supposed to be bringing out a faster connection. Bong is the best man to talk to about that.

[Capt. Queeg]

With cable it really depends on how many people are connected in your neighborhood. You share your bandwidth with all of them. So the problem is consistency. I live in a neighborhood with a bunch of old people and cable just came in 2-3 years ago (strangely enough about the same time I started playing WildWest). I've run a server with 8 people playing on it, now that includes my daughter connecting locally and me playing on said server machine and no one complained of lag AT ALL. In fact everyone said the connection was great. Of course that was before they had Kane's state side server to use as a comparison.

Your machine sounds more than adequate. My best advice is to give it a shot. If your server is used when there are not a lot of people in your neighborhood using your bandwidth, it should work just fine! Now you won't be able to host a 50 or even 26 person server but who knows you might be lucky and have all that bandwidth to your self.

Also, each map will take up different amounts of band with. A map with more locations (top bunk bed, ducts to office) will take up more bandwidth than a map with only a few reported locations. So, I bet you could configure a fairly good server with a little bit of fiddling around.

[Angel-Eyes]

Over here they are constantly replacing the cables to keep up with demand. The faster the connections get the more cables they are laying. In NTL's case they are the sister company of the provider i'm with so drop off doesn't happen as much as it use to.

I know when I ran my server I was constantly tweeking it to get the best performance. I went as far as squeezing my network card for all it was worth, in fact I still do.

Give me speed.........

[AzH]

Originally Posted by Capt. Queeg

With cable it really depends on how many people are connected in your neighborhood. You share your bandwidth with all of them. So the problem is consistency.

i'm quite sure that my speed is guaranteed by my supplier. they have definately capped it at the speed it is (bar stewards), but i get "consistency consistently". ()

[Angel-Eyes]

If you do set up a server and want to tweek your card then let me know and i'll send you the progs to do it with. You do notice a difference it's quite suprising really.

[Hfx-Rebel]

Originally Posted by AE

want to tweek your card then let me know and i'll send you the progs to do it with.

tweaking the network card? sounds like something i'd like to try....hint hint

[Angel-Eyes]

If you pm me your e-mail address i'll send them onto you.

[Capt. Queeg]

>Optimizations
Toss those optimizations my way too!

>Guaranteed download speed on cable.
I think you're wrong on that one AzH. It's the nature of the beast for cable that it is a shared bandwidth pool.

Originally Posted by http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6536_7-726601-1.html?tag=st.mig.3762-8-20697067-6.back2.3762-8-20697067-1

Myth: Cable connections are blazingly fast--until everyone else in your neighborhood logs on.

Reality: It's true that most cable connections offer a maximum download speed of 2Mbps (still a bit higher than ADSL's 1.5Mbps) and that you'll be sharing this bandwidth with other subscribers in your neighborhood. But so many other conditions can slow down your connection speed--from overloaded Web servers to overall Net congestion--that regular old e-mail-checking neighbors shouldn't make a big difference. Sure, cable isn't any more blazingly fast than DSL, but neighbors aren't necessarily the problem.

The exceptions? If you're an online gamer, you might notice a bit more lag during peak periods, which could be a matter of (virtual) life and death. And if somebody in your 'hood is uploading a large amount of data--say, her entire collection of pirated Star Wars movies--she can max out the entire connection and bring everyone's browser to a crawl. For a good explanation of why this happens, see John Navas's Cable Modem/DSL Tuning Guide.

Myth: You can use your cable connection as you please.

Reality: Better read your service contract, pal. Most cable agreements prohibit running a Web server from your end of your high-speed line. That way, one or two users won't hog all the bandwidth in the aforementioned neighborhood. The same is true for many DSL service agreements. Major cable providers have also started to limit the amount of data you can download; some will even charge you for exceeding it, impeding your ability to swap Eminem MP3s with your online buddies. But you're not supposed to be doing that anyway, are you?