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I would like to setup a redirect for custom maps and mods for our COD 2 server. Yes I said COD 2, lol... we are old school and love the Extreme mod we run on it.
I want it to be located in Dallas so using the NFO webhost will not work for me since it is located in Seattle. Having a VDS located in Dallas will solve my location issue but I need help unstanding how to install Apache or any other web host application. Totally new to VDS
The goal is to create the fastest redirect possible. Right now we get about 600kb/sec. I can get over 1 mb at NFO webhosting but want more and need it in the central US.
Why does it matter where the webhosting is? Get a webhosting package and you will be more than thrilled. I'm not sure on what kind of speeds you will be able to download at, but I would imagine your residential connection will max or be capped before you can saturate the link. Only reason I can see you needing a specific reason for the VDS is if you are planning on running more than just a simple apache server for fast downloads. Mail server, game server, etc.
If you are getting a VDS for just a basic apache install and possibly a game server or two, then yes, that would be your best bet. Probabally a 2 core would be your best bet. If you just want it for file downloads, just get a hosting package. They are cheap and actually are unlimited bandwidth and space. You will most definently max your residential line out before you come close to the speed of the webserver.
Distance can come into play a little bit for webhosting, as a higher latency makes TCP streams unable to use the whole connection as adequately, and many clients have RWIN values that are a bit low.
Will this be a Linux VDS, or a Windows VDS? If Linux, installing Apache through your desired distribution's packet manager should work well to get a site quickly online; if Windows, you can download and install a version separately from the OS. (If you're only using the site as a redirect, you should only need Apache, and not the rest of the LAMP/WAMP stack).
I will try loading the whole Apache even though I have no idea on how to do it, lol.
If you guys can point me to where I could learn this stuff I would be a happy camper!
I love the customer service and just to show my thanks and give you some business I am going to order the VDS and see what the panel looks like. If it does not work out then I will just use it to run some games.
On Windows, it should be a fairly straightforward install. You can download Apache from their main page here: http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi. Follow the prompts, and don't worry too much about the domain that you enter when it asks. Have it set it up as a Windows service and start automatically.
After it is installed, it will have an htdocs folder that you can put the files you want hosted into.
The Apache installed with no problems and I was able to download a file to the PC at work. I will configure one of our COD 2 servers and see what how fast the redirect is.
Loaded some custom maps and tried the download with COD 2 but only got about 600-700 kb/sec.
My location is approximately 50 miles south of Los Angeles and the server is in Dallas.
When I use your webhosting in Seattle I am able to double that download rate at my location. I had a few others throughout the US try the hosting in Seattle and all reported faster download rates compared to my current provider which is located in Dallas, cough Gameservers.com. (Note to all: Gameservers.com is the worst in a lot of areas!)
Edge, how much does computing power, Ram , etc... come into play here in terms of just using the server as a redirect (webhost)?
The VDS I am using is the cheapest one you guys offer with 1 MB of ram.
Thanks for any feedback you may provide in this area,
Webhosting of static content uses almost no RAM or CPU power.
Your personal latency might be lower to Seattle, potentially giving you a better transfer rate from that location. Are others who are in the Dallas area seeing better rates to the new redirect?
Isn't webhosting on a faster burst speed type of a port? VDS's offer more sustained speed, but shared ports have more burst speed. That's how I've always told it works, but I could be completely wrong. Downloading files isn't more of a sustained speed, as you download the file the fastest you can, then it's done and there's nothing drawing anymore.
For example, say my VDS has 20 clients on my CS server for 8 hours and uses 10GB of bandwidth. You have 20 clients on your webserver downloading a 500mb file, well that's a heck of a lot less than the VDS. You may need to use 20Mb/s to download that file off the webserver, but it's only for say 30 seconds. Where as the VDS will only use 5Mb/s, but for a more sustained time limit.
Anyhoo, that's enough of me rambling. Just my two cents .
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