Linux Vs Windows

Boris · January 2005

<div class="IPBDescription">Just the one question...</div> Linux OR Windows?

I personally would prefer linux, but I hear so much talk like: "the steam server for linux is SOOOOO UNSTABLE!! use WINDOWS!!"

Is this actually true? or is it that maybe the linux server takes just a bit more resources?

PLEASE HELP! I am getting a dedicated server set up and I need to make the decision (I could always install both OS's, but driving 75km to the hosting place to switch which OS boots up really sucks!). I guess I could set it up remotely to do this somehow...anyone familiar with that?

The goal:
16-18 player server (maybe 20-22 if I feel like it!)
Mainly NS maps
Only admining type plugins (AMXX) and some small others.

The server:
Celeron 2.66GHz
512 PC3200 RAM
200GB HD w/ 8M cache
The Connection: 10Mbit

Thanks,
- Boris <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/nerd-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='nerd-fix.gif' />

Ice9 · January 2005

I'm not sure if you can switch servers remotely. I think that if you use Windows on your own PC, it'd be easier to control the host. Windows is just more user-friendly, but I'm sure they'd be the same for actually hosting NS. I think Linux is more RAM-Friendly towards applications, but you can fix that with Cacheman [for Windows].

Vadakill · January 2005

I'm currently working on a guide to recompile the kernel for optinal performance with Linux and NS. It's going to be a little bit but I should have it up soon. BTW, I use Linux in case my previous statements weren't obvious enough <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' />

blackjackel · January 2005

If you dont know how to recompile the kernel for optimizations with the steam server files, then use windows.

Steam isnt exactly optimized for linux, and in my experience ive seen steam server running much slower than windows server....

even though windows server is unsecure yadda yadda... just strip it down to bare minimum, disable all ports, and dont store any uber important files on the server and you should be fine.

GiGaBiTe · January 2005

linux hlds = cpu hog.

from my experience, linux servers are more stable than windows servers, plus you dont need serverdoc or firedaemon to restart them if they crash. the only time i have seen my linux box crash was from a cpu overload because i used entmod to spawn a ton of ccs to get levels on combat. as the server keeps track of all entities, even dead ents, im suprised it didnt crash sooner, my win32 server would crash a long time before that.

only other problem with linux servers besides the cpu hogging issue i that some plugins are hard to find linux ports for, and you have to compile them yourself or do without them.

Bry · January 2005

Yes i must agree with gigabyte here.

amd 64bit 3000
1gb ddr ram

and my ns classic 16/16 server after 30 minutes only uses 10% max of cpu (windows 2003) however, on a simialr setup on linux it would use up to 60%.

yet even with it using so little cpu and ram being free the server will still crash with not too much building spam yet on linux it wont.

Linux seems best for stability while windows seems best for performance. This is not to say windows is crap and crashes all the time it doesn't it depends and generally i find it can go weeks without crashing

now to find a solution for net_getlong errors

Sion · January 2005

it all comes down to setup ... but as the hlds was never realy made for linux it is unlikely to get any better.

the source engine however is truely fantastic on the linux based os.

The sooner ns moves to source (or it's own engine) the better.

billcat · January 2005

Vadakill,

Very interested in the kernel optd guide. Pls post here once it's complete. I'll be more than happy to test it out asap.

Thanks,

Billcat

Vadakill · January 2005

I have a VERY rough guide ready, and I mean <u>rough</u>. Basically, what I do before preparing one of my official guides is I go through the whole process and write notes down in txt form. Then I go through again on different distros and see if it works the same. Once that's done I format it into a full guide with little caveats you might run into. Right now, this rough guide only covers Fedora Core 3 directly, but it will work if you know how to move around your system a bit.

If you are interested you can view it at the link below:
<a href='http://www.vadakill.com/nsguides/advanced/kernelcompile.php' target='_blank'>http://www.vadakill.com/nsguides/advanced/kernelcompile.php</a>

DISCLAIMER: If you have any doubts about compiling a kernel, don't do it. You can end up with a non-functioning system if the instructions aren't followed 100%. I'll have a full guide up after a while which will point out little things that can go wrong. Again, if you have doubts, wait.

Boris · January 2005

I started the server off in linux in hopes it would be ok to run...but the CPU usage was @ 85% and spiked when the action heated up. Ran it for a couple days, trying some different things, but gave up.

I switched to windows <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' />, until there is a practical solution to the linux issues. Man what a difference...they obviously don't care to optimize the server for linux. My CPU usage is 1/2 of what it was in linux. So dissappointing.

Hopefully the linux version is improved SOON!

GiGaBiTe · February 2005

your hlds mileage will vary depending what distrobution of linux you use. i went through many of them trying to see what version runs hlds best. i finally came up with fedora core 3, its based off redhat 9. redhat 9 didnt work well when i tryed it, kept getting badf loads from metamod.

with the server empty, the cpu usage is around 0-5%. when its 5 vs 5 with spam everywhere, it will vary in the range of 25-70% depending how much there is in the map and if its combat or regular ns.

Vadakill · February 2005

If anyone feels brave enough to try my guide, I'd be interested in the results you get. If they are the same as mine you should see about a ~5-10 fold decrease in CPU usage.

Why would this make such a difference? Well because the Hz rating is what determines how many times per second the kernel is interrupted to do something else. With a Hz setting of 1000, the kernel is interrupted 1000 times per second to check for other jobs. If you reduce the Hz setting to 100, you effectively cut the CPU overhead and therefore cut CPU usage.

There are some side effects to this though. One is an increase in latency of up to 10ms due to the way it processes frames. You could bump the Hz rating up to 200Hz and get only a 5ms side effect however. An alternative is to just turn on "-pingboost 1" to offset this.

billcat · February 2005

Looks great..

Working.. (Thanks very much.)

Edit: note: check out what's on the amxmodx homepage regarding pingboosting:

"We have fixed a few minor issues, and Linux people have reported that AMX Mod X will only work with pingboost level 3 (not 1/2), which also must be fixed."

<a href='http://www.amxmodx.org/' target='_blank'>http://www.amxmodx.org/</a>

Something to think about if you use pingboost and amxmodx.

GiGaBiTe · February 2005

pingboost = take chainsaw to cpu.

i ran pingbooster for about a month and it did not help me one bit, instead it made the cpu usage stay at around 90% when nothing was happening on the server.

hlds linux + pingbooster = BAD idea.

if you want better performance out of the server without killing it, just add this to your server.cfg

sys_ticrate 300

Vadakill · February 2005

Did anyone try the kernel compile yet or am I just wasting my time writing up something that won't ever be used?

billcat · February 2005

sry, I do mean to try this but ran into some larger issues that I have to fix first before I can tweak the server..

AdvPredator · February 2005

Vadakill, I'll buy a server soon to put in my house but I'm waiting for cash. Some people on the net donate me 400$, i only have 400$ to get and ill buy the server. Ill probably put Debian and do your thingy <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink-fix.gif' />

BTW, thanks for your other tutorial, i try to install a server for Linux and its working at 99%, now I get money and ill do your thing <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' />

It's working for Debian ?

GiGaBiTe · February 2005

you can get a athlon 3000 with 1 GB of pc2700 and a MSI motherboard for about $400 on www.newegg.com

but you will need some extra cash to get the case, hard drive, ect. unless your like me and have a dumpster full of old computer junk you can salvage and glue together to make it work.

Vadakill · February 2005

Did anyone try the kernel compile guide? If not, why not? Is it too intimidating? Too complicated? Is there something that you don't understand? Speak up, maybe I can help or reword things to make it easier. Feedback is very important.

Boris · February 2005

Vadakill, I would be all for trying out your guide, but I am not in a situation where I can afford to "test" things on my community's server. I really wish I had another spare computer I could do some testing on that had a connection that could handle 16 players as well.

I could certainly do some small scale testing, maybe up to 10 players or something, but I need to get some free time to do this. Hopefully some will come up in the next week or 2.

Do keep it up though, and does anyone have any news about proper linux versions of steam? Is there any kind of "petition" around we could sign? Because this is rediculous that the FREE os is getting the tail end of all this.

Linux Vs Windows

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