[Question regarding hosting] Dedicated server or not?

[CrazyHamster]

Hi guys, I have been running two TF2 servers for about a month. Even though my servers haven't been as popular as I wished they would be, it has been fun.

Recently, I got two friends joining me, and we want to start building our gaming community. For that, we are hoping to add two more servers, thus having four servers altogether.

Besides the basic criteria (such as uptime, decent ping, etc.), the main thing for our servers, is just we want them to be 32 slots.

Since we are going to pay out of our own pockets, instead of depending on donation and reserved slots, we are hoping the veteran here can give us some advices on how we should do it, in a better cost effective way.

(We don't really have much $$ to spend, and we have to either work extra hours, or cut back on our espresso, in order to pay for the hosting cost... )

(But many of our players are from the local neighborhoods. They chat about school, work, local events, while killing each other in game. It has been a great fun, thus we want to continue having it going )

(Wish SRCDS.com has a wiki already. So the community can start organizing the wealth of the accumulated resource here...)

1)
Currently most hosting are charging about $1.50 / slot. Thus for a 32 slots, it would cost about $48.00 / month.

Should we just get four hosting accounts from the hosting provider?

Also, we are paying for about $100 / year, for the web server, for hosting our homepage / forum, as well as for the fast-download.

2)
I was checking the "The big commercial pit" board here, and read this interesting one:

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http://forums.srcds.com/viewtopic/9890
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Dual Xeon Quad Cores 2.0GHz (x8)
4GB RAM
250 GB SATA 1.5GB/s
CentOS 5
8 IPs
6,000 GB Premium Internap BW

A dedicated server for $299.99 / month.

So how many 32 slots can we host on a server like this?

And consider the additional monthly bandwidth, should we use this dedicated server for our web hosting / fast-download?

3)
I have seen the guide a couple times, but I cannot find it at the moment somehow. What is the general rule for hosting a 32 slots TF2 server? I mean like for each 32 slots server, it would consume how much RAM, upstream, etc.
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Any input would be appreciated!

[dualcore1289]

That cpu will hold quite a descent amount of 32 slot tf2 servers, roughly 5-7. And you should host fastdl and website off another source as well.

[FERMAN]

That Dual Xeon would work... you can host 8 tf2 servers at 32 slots but since you want a website you can host 6 or even 7 servers and then setup your website i can help you out with buying everything... i can also help you out with your website as well if you want.. just pm me

[dualcore1289]

It's not recommended hosting the site and fastdl off the same machine. If you would like, you can message me, and i'll give you a deal on webhosting.

[Mooga]

Running a 32-slot server on a 2.0GHz core wont be easy. I would say you can run 8 20-slots safely. Maybe 24-slots.

As for a wiki, we are working on srcds.org

[dualcore1289]

Just don't set them to a core and you'll be fine.

[FERMAN]

Oops... i didnt notice that it was 2GHz... yeah you will have a more difficult getting 32 slots.... depending on where your members are located it would be better to get 2 servers in texas which will guaranty 8 servers or just get one of those since you wanted 4 tf2 servers and then get web hosting from either xtreme game servers or raided servers because they are both really good prices.... or get the dual xeon thats in LA from raided....

[dualcore1289]

I don't think he'll have an issue, because its a dual quad, I think he can handle 6 tf2 servers at 32 slots. Now possibly not at 66 tick, 33 tick instead.

[Nuggets]

With that setup you shouldn't have a problem at all. You could easily run 4 TF2 servers.

[pengy]

Also to cut back on more costs, you can host your website and fast dl on the dedi box because 6tb is more than enough to run all of it