A long time ago, gaming was basically limited to only consoles and PCs but today it has fast become an online endeavor. Whether you are using your PC, tablet, or smartphone, you can connect to different dedicated gaming servers to play alongside various players from around the world, with the number of players on the increase as more join in on the fun.
Gaming has gotten even more exciting for the game lovers with this new dimension. Playing games online means connectivity and also data has to be stored somewhere. This means that cloud gaming will continue to gain momentum.
The gaming market is also witnessing a boom meaning that gaming is here to stay.
Public multiplayer games use either a client-server or peer-to-peer (P2P) hosting. Game developers build the out-of-the-box servers with the client-server. Such servers could be overwhelmed with hundreds and maybe thousands of players logged in at any given time.
This could mean outages in connectivity.
Looking beyond the fact that these are developed with a large number of players in mind, they kind of strip players’ real sense of control.
For instance, you play a multiplayer game and you just can’t choose your team members and you are left to play alongside some novices in the game. P2P hosting is another choice for multiplayer gaming.
This allows a single player to play the role of a host facilitating connectivity of other players. So, the other players are reliant on the resources of who gets selected as the host. Poor host connectivity means poor gaming experience for all players.
Here are some reasons why you should have a dedicated server for your online games.
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By using a dedicated server, one can potentially reduce the server load with control over the number of players who get to log in to your server at any given time. That way, your server does not get overloaded and this as well reduces lagging.
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This can also serve as a private playground. This presents some sort of privacy where you pick the company of online allies or nemeses you enjoy your gaming time with online.
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A dedicated server also affords you unparalleled customization. You set the rules of engagement as the admin, you want to increase or decrease timing in the game, restrict weapons available; it’s your choice to make. You basically set the constitution for your server.
The first thing you want to consider when planning to set-up a dedicated server is your internet connectivity. Is it really up to the challenge? Is it enough to handle the game you desire to host on it?
If yes, then you’re ready to go. No matter how great your server is, if your internet connection is weak, your server will seem slow.
A dedicated server would be a nice way to pull some extra mileage out of your old PC. Having said that, here are some of the most important hardware requirements to fit in the latest games and to also give you a nice gaming experience:
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A 64-bit architecture OS (Linux Ubuntu Distro preferred)
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Quad-core Intel CPU minimum 2.5GHz clock speed
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At least 8GB RAM (the higher the better)
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A Solid State Drive (SSD). It’s wise not to use the conventional mechanical HDD as constant read-write actions cause problems in the long run.
Using your own PC as a game server is a great option with a powerful hardware setup. However, this has its own shortcomings.
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You will need to keep your PC switched-on and connected to the network probably at all times.
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You will also require a dedicated IP address.
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Keeping your server up-to-date and patching the OS.
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Keeping the PC secured.
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When necessary, hardware has to be upgraded.
The preferred option would be to buy your own dedicated server. This is a fairly technical option and isn’t going to be as simple as pressing the “on” button and playing.
It will take a bit of setup and can be costly, but it’s well worth the investment in time and money if you have a dedicated team that is willing to share that load with you.
Having acquired the dedicated server, next is working out exactly the games you want to play on it. Unfortunately, there’s not a one-size-fits-all solution to this issue as each game developer would have built their games in a different way thereby requiring different methods of patching over your own dedicated gaming server.
The most common PC games use “steam” and below is a guide on how to create a steam game server on Linux Ubuntu.
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Make sure the game you want to host is supported and you can confirm that here. This will also provide you with information on whether you can obtain the dedicated server software using SteamCMD program.
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Because SteamCMD is a command-line program, it will be easier to use SteamCMD-GUI. This allows selecting the required options and installing them in one-click.
Each game then follows its own method. For instance, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) allows for SteamCMD only, Anonymous login with App ID: 740. For beginners, the the pyr0s-csgo-server-launcher batch file (.bat) mostly automates the configuration for you.
There you have it; all you need to get your gaming server up and running.
If you feel that you can set things up on your own, the best option is to get professional help to help you out. After all, you don’t want to mess up the setup of your favorite sports.
A bit of consultation with experts can also help to guide you on using the best gaming server as well the proper game server hardware and game server software you will need to get started.
If speed, customization, and stability are a must for you, when it comes to gaming, then you definitely should set up your own dedicated gaming server.
You get a seamless gaming experience with friends and get too comfortable to participate in multiplayer tournaments too. A small investment is all you need to actualize the dream of owning a dedicated gaming server.