Some questions...

[xtjoeytx]

My Specs:

Computer:
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3500+
Ram -> 2 g/b DDR 3200 ( not DDR2)
Video Card -> Nvidia Card ( eh, sorry -- I totally forgot the name, but I did pay 300$ for it =o )

Operating System:
Dual Boot:
- Microsoft Windows XP (Media Center Edition) - Service Pack 2
- SUSE Linux

Internet Connection / Router:
Router: D-Link (DIR-625)
Speed: 30 mbit download // 5 mbit upload (Verizon Fiberoptics)

Usage: Counter-Strike: Source - Zombie Mod (32 players.. hopefully?)

Based on all that:
A) Would it be better if I vmwared to SUSE, then started the server on that and used the same computer to play CS:S ( probally not o.o )

B) Use the GUI-Based dedicated server, or SRCDS.

C) How many players (max) do you think it can handle without using my -full- connection, so out of the 5 mb, say.. using 3 of it?

D) Rates - I just left them on unlimited, but if anyone -could- do it for me, I would appreciate it a lot.

E) How to check FPS of the server, I have that booster thing - but I can't really check if it works.

F) Why do I lag -horribly- on the server (both GUI and Command-Line based) - but playing single player lan I am fine on?

Oh, and I will be moving this to either a Dual Core Xeon 3.2 ghz -- or to a Pentium 3.2 ghz - 2 g/b ram. =)

[Drocona]

A: Never use VMware or stuff alike that makes virtual instances, it will lag the crap out of everything if it works at all
B: SRCDS, it's basically soooo much better in almost all things (except if you can't work with console commands)
C: on 3 mbit you should be able to run around... 30 (based on 15kb/s max per player slot, which it probably won't get to)
D: You should never set them to unlimited, there will be weird issues. sv_minrate whatever you like (above 5k will disallow 56k players, which is highly suggested. below will allow them) sv_maxrate at 15000 to keep around 3mbit usage. sv_minupdaterate 20, sv_maxupdaterate 100.
E: simply type "stats" in the console, it will show CPU, bandwidth usage and server FPS
F: not sure? depends on what setup you are using and if the CPU will hold out.

[xtjoeytx]

Thanks Drocona, mind giving some advise for the tick rate as well =D

[Drocona]

Well raising the tickrate will use loads more resources, CPU and bandwidth mostly.

If you set 66 tick for a 32 player server I think the bandwidth per player will be somewhere from 15-20kb/s so that will take up alot of your connection. running 100 tick is out of the question for servers with more than 18 players.