Bandwidth, Slots and Managed vs. Unmanaged

[Huuwap]

Well, it's all in the title, but here's some background.

I recently took the plunge and ordered a L4D2 server, which I'm pretty much just playing on with friends at default settings, the occasional competitive match as well. I'm looking to build a community more than anything else, and I'm on a budget, which means I don't really have the resources to throw down another $35/mo for a 32 slot TF2 server. So VDS appears to make sense to me.

I'm looking at the single core, 1000gb/mo VDS option, and mostly just wondering how many slots it will handle, both with bandwidth and the CPU core. I'd like to be able to do the L4D2 server with 8 slots, the TF2 server with 32 and maybe a 24 slot CS:S server, but I'm fairly certain that would push it past it's limit. I could handle dropping the CS:S portion. Do you think the two servers is realistic? Do you think three could happen?

It is worth mentioning that I'd have web hosting through nuclear fallout, but not hosted on the VDS. I would like to get a 30 slot mumble server going on the VDS.

On to managed vs. unmanaged. I'm an IT guy, I work with servers daily, I know my way around and how to make things happen. I also see some value in not needing to do things the hard way. The real issue here is $33 or $53. If I can make it work, 1000gb 1 core gets it...if it's worth the extra $20, I can see if I can convince myself to go with the more expensive option. Aside from the interface being used and the template setups involved with a managed setup, is there much of a difference between the two? If I were to go unmanaged with a Server 2008 R2 installation, what sort of remote connection needs to be made? I'd definitely be more interested in being able to do the remote desktop connection thing than command line, but I can live with both.

Basically I'm interested as hell and could sure use a little bit more info than what is provided on the order page.

Thank you guys.

[Huuwap]

I guess it's $48/mo for a TF2 server - further convincing me away from the standalone gameserver option. I was quoting CS:S prices apparently.

[Huuwap]

We can drop the managed questions - I found the forum.

[Edge100x]

I'd like to be able to do the L4D2 server with 8 slots, the TF2 server with 32 and maybe a 24 slot CS:S server

For this loadout, I'd suggest starting with a 2-core VDS. I don't usually recommend a single-core when multiple servers are involved, especially if they're fairly intensive ones, and L4D2 and TF2 are both pretty piggy on memory usage, often using 300-400 MB per process -- you wouldn't have the memory to run all three of these on a single-core.

You can always start low and go up later. The system will just charge a prorated amount for the upgrade, to cover it for the rest of the month.

[Velsk]

I'm running 2 24 player TF2 servers on a dual core Debian VDS plan. I have the affinity of each server instance set to run on separate cores. When full they will top out at around 50-60% utilization of a single core during normal gameplay. Average utilization is probably somewhere closer to 40%, depending on the map. Payload maps seem to go a bit higher. I imagine a 32 player server will be a little more. Running replay/SourceTV with SourceMod plugins the memory footprint slowly creeps up to around 600-700MB.

I haven't run a Left 4 Dead 2 server before, but I've heard the requirements are a bit higher due to all the AI calculations involved. I'd definitely go for a 2 core plan if you're planning on filling up both servers simultaneously for memory reasons alone, but even CPU-wise you'd be cutting it close with a single core.

As far as remote connection, afaik you use VNC to connect to Windows machines. For Linux you'd use ssh for command line administration.

[Edge100x]

On Windows, Remote Desktop is the way to go when connecting to an unmanaged VDS. VNC can be used as well, on either Windows or Linux, but it is best to save it for emergency use, when RD or SSH won't work.