Let's Build a Community Server

[coden1ke]

 

Hey all,

There has been some interest in having community run servers. Currently we have a plex server / minecraft server (currently skyblock) / GMOD server.

I would like to host more server for us, such as an Ark Server and a Arma server. The only thing holding me back is I do not have the hardware needed to host these servers. 
Talking with some of the guys, if anyone is interested, I will set up a donation for some hardware. 

I threw a build together tonight and this is what I came up with. 
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/coden1ke/saved/rfkWXL

The build is rather basic... as something like this should be. 
We have a small cube case with a compatible ITX motherboard that will fit on my rack. 
We will start with 1x8Gb of memory. (The mobo has 2 dim slots with max 32Gb)

The CPU of choice is a Xeon E301230 V3. (I just upgraded plex to the v2, its a beast for the price)
I could provide the hard drive with one I already have (That being said a fresh one would be nice for the build)

Using a Xeon cpu, a graphics card is needed, i'll find a cheap one on ebay. I figure the price will be around $50 for the card.
And then all that is left is CPU cooler and fans. 

 

I put together a amazon list of items if you would like to contribute something from this list, it is setup to ship directly to me. 
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/FJIEL3QX5A3K
If something is bought I will remove the item from the list so no duplicates are purchased. 

If you would like to send money directly you can donate on our donation page: https://www.warpigs-online.com/donation/

For the time being ill do some tests with the hardware I have here to see how many servers we can host on a single machine, this way we know what to expect with the hardware. 

If you would like to donate some hardware you already own just send me a message and we will see if we can make it work with the build.

Let me know of any questions or concerns, I know management of the server will be one. This is something I will need to think over. I plan to make everything as transparent as possible. And when it comes to what games to host and add ons to use we will be diplomatic and only host and use addons that the a majority of the community would like to use. 

 

Edit:

Going through my closet I found 2 sticks of GSkill 2GB 1600 ram and a WD 320Gb drive we can use for starters. 
I also have the old Plex server cpu, I3-3220. We can also use this to start with, but doing so would limit us to LGA Socket 1155. 
This difference in generation doesn't make a big difference in immediate performance. Using the LGA 1155 motherboard we have more options for better Xeon CPUs as they come down in price. 

Here is a comparison between the I3 I have available vs the most price efficient Xeon (1230 v2) with the next generation (1230 v3). 

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=1472&cmp[]=1189&cmp[]=1942
 

Using the newer 1150 Socket we would have a better cpu upgrade path, we just would need to wait for the costs to drop. 
Here is an example of the upgrade path: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=1942&cmp[]=1964&cmp[]=2894
If all goes well with the server I believe it best to hold out for the E3-1285 v3. 

[coden1ke]

In preparation of the community server I am running some benchmarks and testing web interfaces to make maintenance and configuration of the server easier. 
For Arma 3 I found a web tool I am run that allows for complete configuration of the server and allows the server to be started and stopped. This is good so in case of a crash I don't need to be notified and relaunch it, someone in the community can do just that.  

I am going to look for a tool to do the same for the Ark guys. While doing so, and ill ask around on comms as well. Please get in the server and stress test as much as possible. 
http://speccy.piriform.com/results/cvXyMYdoI5P2xK7MRNKGwWk

The above link show the specs of the test computer. We can infer how well the community server would perform from this. 


If you know of a web interface that can be used for Ark please let me know. 

[coden1ke]

Going through my closet looking for a cable I just found a CX500M power supply. Ill put this to the side and save it for the community server.