Battlefield 3 Server Questions

[badbadrobot]

I converted a couple of servers at each location to Caspian now.

CPU-usage-wise, full 64-slot servers seem to be using about 60-85% of a single E3-1270 processor core. I am still waiting on the VDS-based test server ("US NFOservers.com DAL #09") to fill up in order to see its performance.

so the 1270 can only handle 4-64 player servers?

Sounds pretty low. :/ My community wants to run (2) 64-slot BF3, then (2) MW3 + (2) BC2 and then whatever we want down the road. Seems like the BF3 is going to be a HUGE CPU hog on the 1270's.

Please let us know if you find out more. I want to get a dedicated server asap, but I also want to get a server that will support our current games, and let us grow in the future. Also, you guys don't provide an upgrade other then the $700 machine, which...we can't afford. Have anything in the middle?

[kraze]

Sounds pretty low. :/ My community wants to run (2) 64-slot BF3, then (2) MW3 + (2) BC2 and then whatever we want down the road. Seems like the BF3 is going to be a HUGE CPU hog on the 1270's.

Please let us know if you find out more. I want to get a dedicated server asap, but I also want to get a server that will support our current games, and let us grow in the future. Also, you guys don't provide an upgrade other then the $700 machine, which...we can't afford. Have anything in the middle?

BF3 is a decent hog when the servers are full. We noticed that you could run a 52 slot BF3 server from a two HT core VDS, however that was the line, anymore then it would start to lag. This was also on Caspian Border which is a much bigger map,with all vehicles and more concurrent actions.

Currently our only middle option for dedicated servers is the E3120 with an SSD.

However I think the E3 would do you decently well. I am assuming your servers will not be full around the clock, which will give other populated servers room to use the power while say the BF3 servers only have 30 people in them. It's all about finding that balance. Find that balance and your looking at saving money and running high quality servers.

[badbadrobot]

Sounds pretty low. :/ My community wants to run (2) 64-slot BF3, then (2) MW3 + (2) BC2 and then whatever we want down the road. Seems like the BF3 is going to be a HUGE CPU hog on the 1270's.

Please let us know if you find out more. I want to get a dedicated server asap, but I also want to get a server that will support our current games, and let us grow in the future. Also, you guys don't provide an upgrade other then the $700 machine, which...we can't afford. Have anything in the middle?

BF3 is a decent hog when the servers are full. We noticed that you could run a 52 slot BF3 server from a two HT core VDS, however that was the line, anymore then it would start to lag. This was also on Caspian Border which is a much bigger map,with all vehicles and more concurrent actions.

Currently our only middle option for dedicated servers is the E3120 with an SSD.

However I think the E3 would do you decently well. I am assuming your servers will not be full around the clock, which will give other populated servers room to use the power while say the BF3 servers only have 30 people in them. It's all about finding that balance. Find that balance and your looking at saving money and running high quality servers.

Well honestly we have a large BF & COD community. I could see all being full at the same time around the clock. So that worries me.

[Edge100x]

badbadrobot, the E3-1270 machine is the best one out there by all sorts of metrics:

* Overall CPU speed, it's right near the top (the only faster machines are higher E3s, which are significantly more expensive)
* Performance/price is the highest among available CPUs
* Performance/watt is the highest among available CPUs

You'd be better off buying two E3-1270 boxes than going with a single $480 box, if we offered one, honestly. I would also not recommend the X5675 package for 64-slot servers, just because it has less headroom per core.

64-slot servers are very intensive, as they are with RO2. We're still looking into small tweaks for these servers, but I would generally agree with the assessment that you should be able to run a single *full* 64-slot Conquest server per physical core. If your servers aren't full all the time (and servers only rarely are), or you run Rush maps, your usage will be less. Your usage would also be significantly less if you run 48-slot servers, for instance.

[marrr]

Sounds pretty low. :/ My community wants to run (2) 64-slot BF3, then (2) MW3 + (2) BC2 and then whatever we want down the road. Seems like the BF3 is going to be a HUGE CPU hog on the 1270's.

Please let us know if you find out more. I want to get a dedicated server asap, but I also want to get a server that will support our current games, and let us grow in the future. Also, you guys don't provide an upgrade other then the $700 machine, which...we can't afford. Have anything in the middle?

I wish they offered something in the middle too. My community would have to drop BC2 completely in order to host BF3 servers.

[Edge100x]

marrr, you might also consider a hybrid between a dedicated machine and a managed VDS, or between a dedicated machine and standalone game servers. BC2 runs well on VDSes.

Intel makes it very difficult for us to offer a good "in-between" right now, which is why we don't. There is a huge price jump going from 1P (E3) to 2P (X56xx) configurations, and a big drop in performance per core at the same time. To get something between the 240 (current single E3-1270 machine) and 480 (two E3-1270 machines) price points, we'd have to go with a slow CPU that might not end up even giving the performance of a single E3-1270. I've gone over the options again and again, hoping for a good middle ground myself, because I hate that E3s hold so few servers (it's their one downfall, and forces me to roll out lots of new machines), and X5675s just aren't as fast.

Supposedly, by the end of the year, 6-core E3s will start to come out, as well as Sandy Bridge based 2P options.

[jasonelmore]

on NFO NYC #04 right now.

It played fine for awhile, until the server hit 64 player. Then the lag started. Dunno if that's on a i7 machine or not. it's 5:19 AM PST, im betting the cpu usage is 100% lol

[jasonelmore]

the game seems to be lagging when players join the server. I remember bc2 had this problem for a few days.

[VAPOR]

Can you please put up some 32 slot caspian servers ?


fyi : nfo servers are the best running bf3 ones I have played on !

[.=QUACK=.Major.Pain]

The mention that 52 slots was a threshold on some servers might be why one host is running a 48 slot server. Probably better performance.

[Colt]

atl # 4 on metro is experiencing some lag here and there today.

overall, great game play from nfo servers.

[.=QUACK=.Major.Pain]

Running great right now except for a 3-4 sec lag spike 5 minutes ago on CHI.
Running pretty good.

[Edge100x]

Does that spike occur at round end/map load?

If you see further problems, I'll just turn off the balancer. The servers seemed pretty smooth without it, and I was just trying to get them that extra little percentage.

[.=QUACK=.Major.Pain]

It was about 2/3 in the round. Seems not bad right now with full server.

[Edge100x]

Ok. I hope performance stays high. On the machine side of things, it looks good.