What will I need to run this kind of server?

[pacmanjones]

Hello Tech-forum,

I'm new here and joined because I wanted to ask you guys this tricky question. Please bear with me and read this post, because I know some of you guys will have the answer.

For the past month I've been hosting a minecraft server from Multiplay.co.uk/clanforge. (It costs around 5 USD a month for 600mb ram and 8 players slots). However, I have become increasingly frustrated with the problems I've run into that involve hosting from a company. One example is that there is no config file backup feature. Yesterday I lost a lot of information because of a glitch that erased one of my files. If I had been running the server on my own computer I would have definitely backed up the entire set of files.

My question is this: I know there are people (lots of people) who host Minecraft servers on their own computers. I want to run my own server on my own machine, and preferably have no lag for my users and around 20- possibly 50 player slots. What materials will I need to do this? I have 2 macbook pros (2.4 ghz w/ 4gb ram) but I use them both regularly. If I could, I would definitely buy a server machine for a couple hundred dollars to use to host the server (pardon my complete noobiness, but I do assume that that's what they're for?) What machine would you recommend? How fast would my internet need to be? Is there anything else I would need other than a "server" machine?

btw, I'm not planning on renting out servers, I just want a setup that can run my own server very well.

Thank you!

 

[KSoD]

No Server will only cost a couple hundred dollars. They go for a couple thousand dollars for real ones. The real limitation is your net connection. If you have 50 people connected all needing second to second updates as to their position and what is coming up, you will need uploads speeds greater than roughly 5Mbps. That is minimal. I am only guessing at that, cause never having played minecraft I am not sure on the requirements needed for it. But still 5Mbps should be a minimal.

If you do not have that, then no way you will be able to host. That is the benefit of these hosts, they have great bandwidth to allow the people who connect great speeds. They are on a commercial line or a Fiber line.

You might want to check out a different host that offers you more control over the server.

 

[pacmanjones]

No Server will only cost a couple hundred dollars. They go for a couple thousand dollars for real ones. The real limitation is your net connection. If you have 50 people connected all needing second to second updates as to their position and what is coming up, you will need uploads speeds greater than roughly 5Mbps. That is minimal. I am only guessing at that, cause never having played minecraft I am not sure on the requirements needed for it. But still 5Mbps should be a minimal.

If you do not have that, then no way you will be able to host. That is the benefit of these hosts, they have great bandwidth to allow the people who connect great speeds. They are on a commercial line or a Fiber line.

You might want to check out a different host that offers you more control over the server.

Thanks for the reply. I understand that buying a real server would cost much more than a "couple hundred", but wouldn't it be possible to buy a decent server setup for around 500 dollars (minecraft is not very intensive)?

I will look into different hosts, but if it is possible to buy a setup for that price and maybe upgrade to a better internet plan (will not only benefit my hosting) I would much rather take that route than pay 15-30 dollars+ a month to rent a server.

Thanks again for your constructive input!

 

[patonb]

Google actually only says people can do it on a single core 1 gig ram setups.

As K said, its your internet that'll be a huge factor... and could be more than the 30bucks the hosting fee is.

 

[KSoD]

Decent Server = $30
ISP Speeds to match server = $50-$75

So not only do you pay more, but you have out of the pocket expenses for the server. In addition you must pay for part replacements if something goes wrong with that server. On top of that, if your ISP finds out your hosting a server from your home, you could lose your service completely. For some ISP's it is against their terms of use to even do that. They require you to have a business plan with them which runs you several hundred a month.

So while it is possible, you will pay much more in the end. The choice is yours. But tread lightly. Do you really want to risk not having internet at all cause you didnt read the terms of use properly to know if you can even do such a thing...

 

[overlord20]

I run my 5 slot minecraft server on a pentium 4 with 512mb ram with the other 512mb ram used for TS server. My internet connection is 50 mb/s down and 10mb/s up. I can host up to 5 people fine with 20 people in teamspeak.

Even then I still can't venture far from everyone. IE maps can't be very big.

for 20 people, I would suggest 4gb of ram and dual core processor with a 5-7 mb/s up minimum. Google search "Minecraft Server Requirements" because 4gb may not be enough for 20 people if you plan to have a HUGE map without limiting it.

 

[Druid]

Ram isn't very expensive. He can go 8GB easily. But yeah, it really isn't worth the cost just for this.

 

[overlord20]

Unless you plan to host other stuff with it, or have other people pitching or some other motive then yeah, not really worth it for fun. There are plenty of servers out there.

 

[pacmanjones]

Thanks for all the help!

I do understand that unless my internet is very good, paying for better internet and buying a server probably isn't worth it when I can pay 30USD a month to rent a server. To help I think I found what internet plan I'm on so you guys can judge and tell me if it's not going to work. I have long since considered upgrading to the 100M plan so upgrading to that would not be considered in the cost factor. However, anything above would. Here it is:
(Homepage > Technical Support > Broadband Service > System Requirement pc (eng))


PC requirements for 30M
CPU:
Pentium D
Pentium Dual Core
Pentium Extreme
Pentium 4
Pentium4 Extreme
Xeon
Itanium Core Duo
Core Duo ULV
Core i3
Core i7 Core 2
Core 2 Duo
Core 2 Solo
Core 2 Extreme
Core 2 Quad Atom
All model All model All model All model
1GHz & above 1GHz & above 1GHz & above 800MHz & above
System Memory:
1GB RAM Minimum

Operating system:
Windows XP
Windows Vista
Window 7

Required connection ports:
an Ethernet port (100/1000BaseT) or Wireless 802.11g/n if using a Wireless Modem

I hope that's the right kind of information you need to judge. I'm not quite sure what 30M means though...

 

[patonb]

Go to speedtest.net and post your results.