Server Performance

[Rooster]

Hey I have been running SRCDS for a while, I just started a clan the other day and would like to boost the performance of my server. Usually people have about 100 ping when they join my server, but no one really lags till about 10 people. Is there anything I can do to make my server more legit? I am running it off of my comp, The standalone version. Thanks

I would love to have a dedicated server online on like gameservers.com or something but im not Financially capable of doing that lol. If you would like to donate to me or my clan to help us out, u can find us at http://www.freewebs.com/infinityclan08

[skeletor]

If you want more people to be able to join your server your probably going to have to get a better internet connection. 100 ping generally isn't bad for a home server. Home internet connections generally will have a higher latency then those at a datacenter. Data centers generally are connected straight to a backbone connection, where your isp usually connects to a branch off, then branches it out to you. You can play with the rates and get the ping a little lower, but for more people you will need faster internet I am guessing.

[Rooster]

ya that is what I was thinking, but I was wondering if there was a script which made the server use less CPU which would then cause a lower ping?? Idk i might be wrong but thanks for the help . Everything little thing does help

[skeletor]

Generally scripts cause more cpu usage, because they make the server do additional things. Usually cpu usage won't jump ping, unless its really bad. It will just create choke, and cause lag.

[SargCHG]

The problem with hosting games from your home in most cases is your isp & as to how much bandwidth they allocate you but even if you have alot of bandwidth the problem starts when the modems buffer gets overloaded & at this point pings will go up.
To counter this you need to take the load off the modem to keeps its buffer free to deal. To do this you need a stateful firewall. These are not cheap to buy prebuilt but if you have an old pc laying around(200mhz) you can turn it into a dedicated firewall that will inspect every packet that passes from your lan to wan & vice versa.
I personally do not host anything from inside my home(i have comcrap). I prefer to use a datacenter, but i still use a statefull firewall to keep ingame pings down while other pc's in the house are either downloading or uploading. The firewall looks at each packet & moves it by the priority you have predefined.
Game packets or udp packets are a time sensitive(no delay), tcp packets can be delayed, so you can see the advantage. There are alot of linux based firewall solutions out there. Personally i use M0N0wall http://m0n0.ch/wall/
Software like this takes the management of dealing with all those connections & puts the load on a second piece of hardware instead of the modem it self, which really has no balls. Plus you can also monitor every inbound & outbound request as well as see your bandwidth usage in real time.
You can max out your upload &/or download & still get a good ping to a server(less the 40ms difference). Without the statefull packet inspection, the pings would be unplayable(150ms or greater in difference). So this is something to keep in mind when your behind any cable or dsl modem. You can have a killer rigg & network but its only as good as the device thats connecting you to the net. A 200mhz P-2 128ram is better then any linksys or alike router out there because thats just it they are routers nothing more the load is still on the modem...