What Hardware Does a Game Server Need

A game server is a specialized computer system capable of connecting multiple players, allowing them to enjoy multiplayer gaming in an open-world environment or engage in private battles with friends. To make the most of game servers, it is essential to understand their workings, types, and hardware requirements, which are necessary for a seamless gaming experience.

What is a Game Server?

Whenever you play any online game, it is hosted in a virtual space on a game server, allowing players from different parts of the world to connect and play together seamlessly in real-time. During gameplay, a game server acts as a middleman, handling aspects such as player interactions, game performance, and data storage. Together, this helps create a smooth and swift gaming experience.

Another important aspect of a game server that one needs to understand is the distinction between a regular web server (designed for applications and websites) and a game server. The latter utilizes high-performance hardware and is designed to handle games with multiple players simultaneously without latency issues. A reliable game server is needed so that players can enjoy interruption-free gaming.

How Do Game Servers Work?

Game servers utilize a specially designed native system known as a client-server architecture, which consists of two primary components: the client and the server.

Game Client: The client side is the part that runs directly on your device, which could be your gaming computer or a gaming console. It is responsible for showing you the gaming graphics and everything you do within the game. You are in control of everything here.
Game Server: The server side is where the game is hosted. It is designed to track each player’s activities and ensure everyone remains connected to the game.

Now that you have understood these two aspects, you will find it easier to comprehend when we say that the client and server communicate with each other through communication protocols, which include UDP and TCP.

Let’s explore the two protocols:

TCP: It is a reliable communication protocol, but relatively slower for real-time gaming. However, it can be suitable for the turn-based gaming genre.
UDP: A faster and one of the most reliable communication protocols for real-time games. It can communicate and exchange data swiftly, focusing on speed rather than transferring every piece of data perfectly.

Types of Game Servers

When it comes to playing online games, it is essential to understand the different types of game servers to ensure the game performs optimally and to maximize your gaming experience.

Here are some of the most common types of game servers:

Public Shared Servers: These servers are among the easiest to use, as they allow multiple players to connect simultaneously and enjoy the game together. However, one needs to know that this kind of server can be slow and sometimes even go offline, as many people are connected to it simultaneously.
Virtual Private Servers (VPS): Virtual Private Servers, also known as VPS game server, are reliable and can be relied on more easily by gamers. They offer dedicated resources and are a good solution for medium and large groups of players who are looking for performance and stability without incurring the high costs of dedicated servers.
Dedicated Game Servers: If you are looking for some of the finest and top-notch servers that give you full server access, then a dedicated game server is what you should opt for. These have low latency, are fully customizable, and offer a seamless gaming experience. They are a perfect solution for companies and professional gamers looking for the best performance.
Listen Servers: For peer-to-peer gamers, Listen Servers is the most suitable type, where one player’s computer or gaming system acts as a server. This would be an ideal server setup for a small group of players who primarily prefer team matches.
Peer-to-Peer Networks: In a peer-to-peer network, each player is directly connected to the other, which significantly reduces latency and makes the gaming experience swift. However, since every computer is interconnected, this raises security concerns.

Being well aware of these basic server types can help you select the best server for your gaming needs, ensuring a fun and seamless gaming experience.

Why Do We Need a Game Server?

Game servers play a significant role in online gaming, especially in terms of performance. When a game is run on a dedicated server, it experiences less delay, and the response time increases significantly, which is exactly the level of performance needed to run resource-intensive battle games.

Moreover, game servers offer greater reliability as they are stable and can stay online for longer, which means players can enjoy interruption-free gaming sessions. These features come in handy and become useful when a whole team of players is online and playing matches concurrently.

Dedicated game servers also offer a protected place for players as they help guard personal information while preventing hacking and cheating. There’s an additional advantage for game makers as well, as they can add special security features to help ensure the gameplay remains fair for everyone.

Another widely known positive impact game servers have on the virtual world is that they help gamers build a community among other online gamers where players can meet, team up, and make friends, and a combination of this makes the gaming experience engaging and fun.

What Hardware Does a Game Server Need?

When setting up a game server, it is crucial to find and choose the game server wisely to ensure you experience good performance along with smooth gaming, regardless of the game you are playing. Here is how to choose the right game server:

CPU: The CPU is the key component of the game server. It processes how the game works and helps properly manage the tasks players are willing to perform. One should opt for a multi-core processor, as it performs best and can handle multiple players at the same time, especially when playing games that need a lot of resources.
RAM: RAM is important for storing data temporarily. At least 8GB is usually recommended, but if the game is larger or has more players, you may need 16GB or more to avoid delays and ensure quick access to data.
Storage: Storage is also essential. Solid State Drives (SSDs) are superior to regular Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) because they are faster. This means players can load games faster. Depending on the game and the number of players, you may need anywhere from 250GB to 1TB of storage.
Network Interface Cards (NICs): NICs help maintain a stable and fast internet connection. A dedicated NIC with a speed of at least 1 Gbps is recommended to ensure smooth data flow, especially for multiplayer games.

Finally, you need a reliable power supply and a cooling system to keep the hardware from failing when the game is being played hard. Choosing high-quality parts will help your game server run well and handle players’ needs.

What Can You Do to Access Good Hardware for a Lower Cost?

Good hardware can be costly, but renting a game server from a hosting company allows you to use great hardware at a lower cost.

Decide the type of game server you need: You need to spend some time planning the games you want to host on your server. You can choose between a dedicated server for high-performance games and a virtual private server (VPS) for less demanding games. Knowing the requirements of the games you want to run is important to simplify the decision-making process.
Research game server providers: It is always wise to spend time researching game server providers. You need to search for a trustworthy company that offers good hosting options designed specifically for gamers and the types of servers that are available. You may also need to check reviews left by other customers and see if they have a good uptime record.
Choose the right server: Once you have found a reputable provider like Cloudzy, you can select the server type you want, which could be either VPS or dedicated. Once you have done this, you will be able to choose your setup. You may need to select various aspects like server location, hardware details, and the operating system. Some companies even offer easy setups for popular games.
Creating an account: At this step, you will need to provide the server provider with the payment details and agree to their terms of service. To further save costs and get the best value out of your money, you will also need to spend some extra time checking for any additional value-added features and services, which could include automatic backup facilities, to help keep your server safe and operational most of the time.
Complete your order and set up your server: Once you have successfully placed your order, the game server provider will send you an email with login details and instructions on accessing your server. Once logged in, you can set up your game server how you like and invite friends to play with you.

Concluding Thoughts

With the proper game server setup, you can create a fun and engaging environment for you and your friends so everyone can play together for as long as they want and enjoy endless gaming sessions. Whether you want a casual game night or a competitive match with your buddies, having access to a reputable game server makes all the difference.