At 05:04 PM 2/7/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>changes maps the count down happens then it shows the scoreboard thing, then
>it hangs for like 30 to 40 seconds, in the course of that time if you try to
>chat, it says connection problem, but thats only when you are typing in
>chat.
Your server specs are actually kind of on the minimal side, and that
makes me wonder if disk I/O isn't part of the issue? I mean, your server
says "Nice game everybody, hang tight while I load up the next map" and then
starts to read in the next map. If disk speed is slow, you not only have
the hlds service sitting around in an idle state while that's happening, but
you're also taking OS resources for the disk access so there's less of the
CPU to hand the hlds service. With little memory the OS can't cache
those disk reads much either.
I'd start with the server as-is, no users connected, started
from a DOS box. Issue a changelevel and time it, changelevel to the next
map and time it, for three or four maps. Then shut the server down and
do it again for three cycles. The average time for each map should be
your benchmark. Then I'd do the same thing running HLDS in your
normal fashion, perhaps under Firedaemon or whatever. If there is a
significant change in time, I'd look at service priority and how the
OS is set up. If not, it's probably disk and RAM. The quickest way to
boost disk read speed is to run a raid-1 config, because both disks can
be read from alternately -- whichever one has the sector needed closest
to the heads gets used. Read speed is generally most noticed on servers
since a simple mapchange can involve several megs of data, and the logfiles
are trivial. For RAM, add more and note any differences.
Note that this is merely an exercise in isolating what the
limiting factor is. Speed is going to cost money, so how fast are
you willing to go? Disk is fairly cheap to add to but another drive
for RAID-1 isn't going to help a lot if you've bare minimum of RAM,
it'll merely speed up the loading a little. RAM is beneficial no
matter what's happening since the OS can use it as can HLDS, but the
OS can't cache a map the server hasn't asked for before. A hotter
CPU is always good but may not be used in your case because disk and
RAM are so low the thing never flexes its muscles during a mapchange.
How to get the best bang for your buck is up to your results.
Oh, I'd also run perfmon on that box a few times. Look at CPU,
free memory, disk queues, that sort of thing. The Microsoft website
has an excellent tutorial on it if you're unfamiliar with it, and it's
included with your OS so the price is definately right.
I hope this gives you a place to start from.
- Dan
* Dan Sorenson DoD #1066 A.H.M.C. #35 [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* Vikings? There ain't no vikings here. Just us honest farmers. *
* The town was burning, the villagers were dead. They didn't need *
* those sheep anyway. That's our story and we're sticking to it. *
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