Help Please Server Build

[konFused]

Hello, i need to build a server for a game that i play called Lineage2 i need to basically run the game off the server and all the programs to load up the game and what not...i have a t3 line that im plugging into this rig i just dont know what i should throw together in this machine these are the parts im thinking about getting so far, but i would love other suggestions and help aswell as i need a good server case if any of you know of good deals/or built a server before please help me


(2)Seagate Cheetah 10K.7 ST373207LC 74GB 10,000 RPM SCSI Ultra320 80pin Hard Drive - OEM 399.98

(1)TYAN S5372G3NR Dual Socket 771 Intel 5000V SSI CEB Server Motherboard - Retail 349.99

(2)Intel Xeon 5030 Dempsey 667MHz FSB Socket 771 Processor Model BX805555030P - Retail 315.98

(1)CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Unbuffered System Memory Model VS1G667D2 - Retail 157.99

(1)GECUBE R9250PCI-D3 Radeon 9250 256MB DDR PCI Video Card - Retail 54.99

*I didnt include the power supply being as i dont know which i should get aswell as a case not sure either...and i figured that video card would do good seeing as its a server and im not going to be gaming off of it .....any or a lot of help would be much appreciate this is my first time putting together a server... thanks much everyone for your time and concern..ohh also i was thinking of using Windows 2003 Enterprise as the OS

[YARDofSTUF]

Tyan makes good boards, I loved mine, RIP

Cheetahs rock too!

I like silverstone cases, enermax andstar something have some nice server ones too. Depends on how crazy you plan to go, dunno if a game server would really warrant redundant power supplies.

[YeOldeStonecat]

Don't know much about your game....or what budget you have..but just some pointers...I've dealt with building game servers a few times..

You usually don't need super horsepower..usually a few steps behind leading gaming rig specs...most of your game servers performance will be based on how well you tweak the system, the bandwidth it's one, and your network hardware.

If you plan on running the server to host for a lot of people...a server operating system is much better than a desktop operating system. You have that covered. Desktop operating systems are designed to deal with up to 10 concurrent connections..they lose efficiency as you go past that..get up past 20, 30, etc. Server operating systems will keep their efficiency as that number climbs..it's what they're designed for.

Quality bandwidth..it's more about upload...so running on broadband isn't usually an option..most home broadband accounts don't even have 1 meg upload. But again..depends on your game...you want to take your game...find out how much bandwidth it wants per player...based on that..and how many players you wish to host..you can find out what bandwidth it will require.

You can also usually find a resource on whatever tech reference site deals with your game...and find out what sort of servers specs your game desires. You may find out your game doesn't need much horsepower for a dedicated server..might run fine on a 1.0GHz rig with 512 megs of RAM. I don't know what your budget is..but might want to look into this a bit first...perhaps save some $$$ in not needing a duallie rig.

Firewall...you'll want a server grade firewall..something that can handle heavier concurrent traffic...the average ones designed for home users wont' handle heavier loads well.

Server grade network card...same as above

Low system impact antivirus

Lock down your server well...especially if co-located at a data center..

Tweak your server..shut off services you won't need..like IIS, networking services, etc. Helps it run a lot snappier, and helps secure it.

[konFused]

wow thanks yard and yeoldstone for your help ... about my game http://www.Lineage2.com the server im hosting is a MMORPG..well ill probably have a good 200+ people and itll eventually grow aswell to about i want to say 600-800people..now some other private servers ive seen they had a rig like so


Server Memory 8192MB RAM (8GBs)
Primary Storage (Dedicated Files For Server Related Files): 1 x 73GB U320 SCI Hard Drive (RAID5)
Secondary Storage (Dedicated Files For L2): 1 x 73GB U320 SCI Hard Drive (RAID5)
Tertiary Storage (Dedicated Files For MySql and Data Base Info): 1 x 73GB U320 SCI Hard Drive (RAID5)
Operating System: CentOS 4.x
Control Panel Software Cpanel /WHM
IP Addresses 5 Bandwidth Unmetered


Dual Opteron CPUs
8 Gigs of RAM
Dual SCSI Raid-0 32Gig 10KRPM
100Mbit Backbone

and

Dual Xeons 3.2Ghz
8 Gigs of RAM
Dual 32Gig 10k RPM HDs
100Mbit Connection

and

Dual Xeons 3.4Ghz
8 Gigs of RAM
Dual 32Gig 15k RPM HDs
100Mbit Connection


these are the systems ive seen...reason i tried to get something like so...but reason im asking on here is because everytime ive asked for help you guys were always right and if i dont need to be going all out with rigs like those to host a MMORPG game like mine..then i wont waste the money all the extra stuff i dont need and wont be using...im mainly worried about being DDOS'd any possible way i can stay away from DDOS'ers....once again thank you both very much for your help i really do appreciate it


*also here are the system req. to play the game...these are not to host it just to play it off of a server...

Minimum Requirements
CPU: Pentium 3 800MHz or better
RAM: Higher than 256M
Graphics Card: GeForce2 or better
Connection: 56K Internet Connection

Recommended Specifications
CPU: Pentium 4 2GHz or better
RAM: Higher than 512M
Graphics Card: GeForceFX 5600 or better
Connection: Broadband Internet Connection

[YARDofSTUF]

Wow, 200 and then 600 people, Does Lineage 2 use SMP(dual CPUs)?

[A_old]

the server app probably does. there is no reason for them not to multithread the server application

[YeOldeStonecat]

.im mainly worried about being DDOS'd any possible way i can stay away from DDOS'ers....

That's up to the data center that you choose to co-locate your server at. Some will do ACL's and SPI at their main router...thus protecting you..other cheaper ones will probably just give you a naked IP address...leave it up to you.

[konFused]

ahh..alrighty...well thank you all very much for your help...i really appreciate it a lot : ).. i will post up later my new server specs and let you all know how my server is running once up and going...once again thank you all verymuch for your help : )