blackmain

My roommate and I are looking into building a rig to host a Never Winter Nights server. I'm in the dark about this and any help would be appreciated.

Trying to keep the price down as well... $600 - $1000.

__________________

marstein

How about renting a machine on the amazon cloud? I don't know if that would even work. They are running Linux. I just jeard a talk by their CTO today, pretty amazing.

__________________
Gigabyte P35-DS3R, 2GB, 8800GTS 640MB, Core2Duo E8400

blackmain

Used to have a server that ran linux and there are no NWN remote server accesses for it that are worth half a... well you fill in that last blank.

__________________

sc1ence

If it is nwn1 then the hardware requirements are low. Just about anything can do it. nwn2 requires a bit more oomph, especially as you get more complex scripts going.

Is it a pvp world or pve?

__________________

blackmain

gonna be pve with some pvp... and its nwn.

__________________

Syntonic

For just a nwn server, it won't require very much in terms of hardware. As it is, for 600 USD, you can probably make an entry level C2D with a 1gb-2gb RAM and a good amount of HD space without (or with depending on how much you skimp) a monitor which should be more than enough to host your NWN module with a good number of players. Your connection will probably limit you more than than a server so you might want to consider a professional commercial service rather than hosting from your location (unless your location has some awesome connection with a very stable and good upload speed.)

=DdogG=

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...704-LT&cat=SYS

or

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...0-28-R&cat=SYS

__________________
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -Albert Einstein
The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity. -Harlan Ellison

If all else fails: "rm -rf /"

ScratchMonkey

The one item missing from those Dell servers is remote console. I love having that on my Compaq 4U box. The Compaq unit is called an "Integrated Lights Out" or ILO card. It lets me connect to the system console through a Java program in my browser so I can see the BIOS screens and the Linux kernel-selection screen. So if the box has a problem booting (like a bad kernel update), I still have a chance at recovery without having to go thousands of miles to the data center where the box is installed. (The last time the box had a problem, it was a loose network cable from guys in the data center recabling. I could log in through the ILO which has a separate network cable but not ping out.)

My most recent Dell server has a "DRAC 5" card that gives me that, but the DRAC console is a bit flakey. It insists on an ActiveX plugin with IE (can't use Firefox) and I have to fight around a certificate warning. Fortunately this server is a couple rooms away from my office so the main value of the DRAC is saving the need for a monitor and keyboard in the server closet.

__________________

blackmain

Thanks a lot. On a side note: Is a 6mb connection enough to host a descent sized server?

__________________

Satertek

These blade servers people are suggesting seem a bit overkill You could easily get away with a $200-250 system. A ~$40 Athlon 64 Chip (or a dual-core for a tiny bit more), a cheap name brand motherboard, a modest 400-450W PSU, and the cheapest case you can find (preferably some place in-town to save on shipping). DDR2 RAM is dirt cheap so no problem there, and hard drive prices are too, so get what you think you need. If you don't have an video card you can put in it temporarily, you can probably find a basic one for $10 or so.

Then you can load up XP, stuff in the back of a closet and use Remote Desktop to use it.

A google search found someone on the Bioware forums that says that each client uses about 2.5KB/s of upstream. The typical Cable connection is what, 48KB/s (384Kbps)? That would cover about 16 people when you aren't using the web connection for normal use. Shouldn't be a problem if you only plan on using it for a small group of friends.

__________________

=DdogG=

there are cheaper ones that those, but for 299, I think "overkill" might not be the right word.

__________________
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -Albert Einstein
The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity. -Harlan Ellison

If all else fails: "rm -rf /"

blackmain

does the operating system type matter for the hosting server?

__________________

Satertek

Ah, yea that's pretty good, only saw the $600 one.

Use what you've got, doesn't matter too much. There are special server versions, but you wouldn't need any of their features for just running a game server. There are open source alternatives if you find that you do need something such as an FTP server.

Did you check connection upstream? www.speedtest.net

__________________

blackmain

That first one looks good.. the 299 one but how would I install the OS... doesn't look like it has a CD drive and I have a copy of windows XP pro on cd...

__________________

=DdogG=

you can plug in a cd temporarily through ide ... the 120gig hard drive is IDE, so just plug in and set up the cdrom as slave.

__________________
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -Albert Einstein
The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity. -Harlan Ellison

If all else fails: "rm -rf /"