Online gaming is a big thing now and loads of people are getting onto the bandwagon. Gaming has evolved so much since it started and is becoming a very close part of our daily lives (for quite a lot of people).
While we used to play in the comfort of our homes a while back, now we have the opportunity to connect with people all over the globe and play our favorite games together. Well this became a possibility due to the things that doesn’t get much (or any) credit. The game servers.
So in this article we will go through all the details about:
- What a game server is
- What’s the difference between game servers
- What to look for when getting a game server
Let’s get to it!
What is a game server?
The best answer is that a game server is pretty much similar to any other server. However the biggest difference between a game server and a traditional server is that these type of servers are much more powerful.
The popularity of Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) gaming has made its way for extreme advances in broadband technology and the games themselves. This results in games placing heavy demands on the servers.
In order to handle high loads, servers had to become stronger by having higher CPU power, storage and bandwidth which resulted in the creation of game servers. Again one thing you should keep in mind is that no matter how strong the server is, if there is a high latency then there’s no point.
The key to good game servers are higher server performance and lower latency.
What’s different about game servers?
The main difference is that the server performance should be top notch to handle the load from gamers playing around the world. There will be players from all over the world playing on these servers 24/7 so downtime should not be an option.
A CPU-intensive and IO-intensive server can process tens of thousands of connections at the same time is suitable for a gaming server. With high performance plus a high stability will be the ideal option for gamers. If a server keeps on going down then no one would want to play anymore.
The gaming server should also have a sound data carrying capacity and processing capacity. While general servers are comparatively balanced in various aspects. When looking for gaming server providers, you should select those with outstanding CPU performance.
Usually, gaming servers are more powerful as compared to the general servers because of the graphical load that games carry. Gaming server’s configurations are more advanced like the cores, RAM, SSD disks, grid-power, etc.
What you should keep in mind!
- High performance server
- High stability
- Physically closest server to you
- High bandwidth
- Setup of firewalls
- System updates
- Optimizations
So by now you have an idea of what the game servers are. However here are some more info that will be useful for you. When you’re picking the game server try to find a server with DDOS protection included.
Since gaming servers are filled with traffic all the time, the chance of being a targeted for a DDOS attack is very high. So it’s better to consider that if the server provider has this security measure in place. You don’t want to go down in the middle of the game.
Due to ping, it’s better to pick a server that is closest to you. For shooting games the optimum circumstance would be to have the ping less than 50ms. However up to 100ms will be good. If your game server doesn’t have this then better to choose a different one.
Traditional hosting services does not need low latency and fast pings as game servers because most of the websites work perfectly fine under the latency of 350 milliseconds.
When it comes to MMORPG games the best would be if it will be under 150ms.
Gamers would rather play than administer the server so the game server host should offer features like automatic updates, a choice of control panels for administration, software for 1-click installations, and KernelCare, which automates necessary updates to the operating system’s kernel without rebooting the server, as is usually required.
Leading hosting companies make their services easy to use with support from professional staff. Gamers should look for an established provider that monitors its services and offers support 24 hours a day, seven days a week if games are going to run at night or on weekends.
On final note
Your choice of a game server should take several factors into account,
- The resource requirements of the games you intend to host
- The number of concurrent users
- Your budget
- Stability of the server
Generally speaking, a dedicated server is the best solution but a high-end virtual private server might be good enough, depending on the game and the number of users.
I'm fascinated by the IT world and how the 1's and 0's work. While I venture into the world of Technology, I try to share what I know in the simplest way with you. Not a fan of coffee, a travel addict, and a self-accredited 'master chef'.