Apophis

As many of you know, WOLFServers is our Gaming Service Provider of choice for our Battlefield 2142 ranked servers. Since Battlefield 2142 was first released, WOLFServers has been providing us with a stable playground for the game. This was a rather large change in direction for Tactical Gamer as we have always been a self-provider when it comes to hosting our game servers as well as infrastructure servers.

With the launch of Battlefield 2142 we realized that we need to form a relationship with a gaming service provider that could provide a solution for Battlefield 2142 and future games that require authorized or ranked service providers. WOLFServers has certainly delivered for Battlefield 2142 in both the quality of the server itself and the top notch support that goes along with it.

Right now WOLFServers has a total of 150 physical servers. All of their shared (per slot) server are Dual Opteron 265's with 4Gigs of RAM or Dual Opteron 2216's with 4Gigs of RAM all on dedicated 100Mbps connections to internet.

WOLFServers has a total of just over 440 total PC Game Servers running with a total slot count of about 13,275 slots. Their St. Louis Data Center is GameRail enabled and Virginia, Texas and Los Angeles Data Centers should be GameRail enabled by mid June. Not sure what GameRail is yet? You'll soon learn about it as should all other gamers interested in getting better pings to game servers. Check it out at the GameRail website. They are currently running an open Beta. Once you finish learning about GameRail, you can click here to see what Tactical Gamer servers are currently GameRail enabled.

I had the opportunity a couple weeks ago to chat with Rob from WOLFServers and ask a few questions:

TG: When did WOLFServers begin offering dedicated gaming servers?

Rob: June 21st, 2005... When BF2 released. We have been hosting game server through our community (WOLFGaming.net) since 2001 however.

TG: What separates WOLFServers from other game hosting providers?

Rob: Support... Support... Support... The staff at WOLFServers are all gamers and at some point or another had hosted servers with various companies. One thing that was lacking, not all of the time, was support. Our number one priority is providing timely support to our clients and getting things fixed the first time... Anyone can host a good server.

TG: What is the network architecture like?

Rob: We use a few different bandwidth providers including Peer1, Level3, Time Warner to name a few. All of our edge routers are Cisco so they can process the traffic very fast and don't introduce latency(lag). We are also partnered with GameRail which will help decrease ping times for GameRail clients to all of our data centers.

TG: If you had to summarize your corporate philosophy, what would you say?

Rob: Support and client satisfaction.

TG: Aside from America's Army, EA has pretty much led the charge in terms of the "ranked" server concept. Do you see more developers and publishers moving to this business model in the future?

Rob: Yes we do. There are other "Ranked" games coming out this summer.

TG: What have been the biggest challenges in operating WOLFServers?

Rob: Buggy game server software. I can't tell you how much heat we take, which is fine, but we have to have the support of the developers at the same time. Communications and support from the development houses would be the second biggest challenge.

TG: What have been the biggest rewards in operating WOLFServers?

Rob: Believe it or not... Your call. Seeing all of the people and groups talking about us and their good experiences with us and the servers we run. Running game servers certainly won't make anyone rich. We knew this before getting into it though so it's never been an expectation of WOLFServers.

TG: What games do the owners/management of WOLFServers play themselves and what are your all-time favorite games?

Rob: For me, Rob (aka WOLFGiJoe) it's 2142, GRAW and ArmA... I can't wait for ETQW and Crisys. Joe (aka Anubis) is a source guy and also plays some GRAW and ArmA. Eric (aka PhantomaYoda) is mostly into 2142 with his clan. Norman (aka TheHeartSmasher) plays just about everything when he's not busy working on web development for WOLFServers.

Tactical Gamer is quite pleased with the quality and service we have received from WOLFServers and we look forward to working with them for a long time to come. These guys know what they're doing and they do it well.

For more information on WOLFServers and their offerings, visit them at WOLFServers.com.

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lightzout

WOLF has always had great servers and the GameRail service looks very promising. Its already supporting my favorite TG servers but since I am on Comcast (apparently not a integrated ISP on Gamerail yet- maybe there is a conflict of interest there?) I will wait to install the client. The monthly fee Game Rail wants to charge is too high for my tastes (about $12 is what I read) since I have a decnt connection as is. Maybe there can be someway to roll it into a supporting TG membership for people who may really benefit from it and want to support TG at the same time eh? I look forward to hearing what people who can test it out think and whether it works as advertised.

Apophis

I wanted to give it a shot as well but they've not yet completed peering with COX. Once they do I'll give the free trial a whirl.

I do understand what they're doing and why they're doing it. I had this very idea many years ago but couldn't find the funding to build it. My pricing model was going to be a bit different though and wouldn't have required a client to use.

I would love to hear from someone that can actually try it out and get some traceroutes and ping data with it enabled vs. disabled.

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Diplomacy is the art of saying "good doggie" while looking for a bigger stick.

Wyzcrak

Given that I don't care about GameRail except within the context of my time playing here, I'd love to see the cost rolled into my SM (as an option, of course). It would keep life simpler for me, and I'd love to see TG recognized as "lots" of players come to GameRail "through" TG.

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Darkilla: In short, NS is pretty much really fast chess. With guns. Apophis: I haven't seen anyone say that SM's are better than non-SMs. Nordbomber: This is THE first server I've seen where either side can comeback from out of seemingly nowhere with the right teamwork. en4rcment: I have NEVER experienced the type of gameplay that I have found here. Nightly I am amazed at the personalities and gaming talent. Zephyr: Apophis is clearly a highly sophisticated self-aware AI construct that runs on a highly modified toaster oven in Wyzcrak's basement.

JimmyTwoHand

^
Ditto. Although i will need to look into the implications for overseas users. My main hassle with TG servers is that the 3500 miles does have a bad effect on my ping as im sure it does for others. Ill need to study it a bit more to see whether it will be applicable.

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Originally Posted by Ribbons The tactical and strategic application of textile accoutrements is a constantly underrated part of battle.

Melee

Once Time Warner gets on board I'll give it a try. My ping now is usually ~100...double what it used to be when BF2/POE2 was hosted in Texas, which probably makes sense since it's twice as far to Virginia from San Diego.

Maybe GameRail will even enable TG to attract more West Coast members once the pings to our servers become competitive.

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|TG| Melee

LEGEN...wait for it...DARY

Dick Blonov

Some good info/discussion from testers here.

edit: Once you sift through the noise...


DB

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|TG-6th|Blonov

DirtyLude

My ISP is supposedly GameRail enabled. I'm not certain how this works, though. I can download the client, but if I'm not accepted as a Beta tester, does it do anything. I just registered, so we will see what happens.

It looks like I just need to pay for the 'Edge' service if I need it now.

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The Dirty

DirtyLude

I tried it out, but no go. My lowest ping was to Texas for some reason and it's the farthest server from me. It was only 45 and not as good as if I don't use it at all. Not certain what's going on, but I can't be bothered playing with it.

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The Dirty

DirtyLude

Tried it again this morning and the Chicago gateway is giving me 17 ping, so it looks okay now. Unfortunately The 2142 conquest server is not available when I have Gamerail enabled. The Northern Strike server is available, but not the regular conquest server. This was the same as last night, but I thought the 45 ping had something to do with that.

When I disable Gamerail, the 2142 server is available again.

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The Dirty

ScratchMonkey

From what I can, this is strictly game and TS hosting. Is it BF-only? Where are the other game servers? Where do the website and other non-game services live?

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Apophis

Your post is a little vague. I'm not sure what the "this" and "it" are that you're referring to.

If I had to guess, I think you're asking about what we're using WOLFServers for? We are using WOLF for our Battlefield 2142 ranked servers ONLY. All of our other game servers are self hosted at two datacenters in Texas and one in Virginia. All of our infrastructure/web/database/mail/development and backup servers are located in Texas.

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Diplomacy is the art of saying "good doggie" while looking for a bigger stick.

SGT.Moore USMC (RET)

quick question, which of the three datacenters hosts the ARMA game server ?

Apophis

ArmA is hosted in Virginia.

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Diplomacy is the art of saying "good doggie" while looking for a bigger stick.

ScratchMonkey

Thanks, Apophis, yeah, that's what I was asking. I'm looking for alternatives to my current hosting. I've got a 2U costing $300/month for unmetered 8 Mbit. I'm told that's a steal, but I'd like to confirm it.

__________________
snooggums' density principal: "The more dense a population, the more dense a population."

Iliana: "You're a great friend but if we're ever chased by zombies I'm tripping you."