Someone on the list tested and CPU usage is higher in versus mode, though it doesn't scale linearly (doubling the human players didn't double the cpu usage, because the server no longer has to "pilot" the bots, and no matter how many players you have, the mob zombies are a constant overhead).
For what it's worth, here's our complete stats: http://www.127001.org/mrtg/ 12 l4d servers... note that the load averages are stacked on top of each other. So just because the top line gets to 20 does _not_ mean our load average went up to 20 :P The yellow area of that graph is the 1 minute average; just use that. The player levels graph is straight off the servers... the unique banner hits is a simplistic attempt to gauge unique hits to our webserver, though the fact it mostly matches the shape of the player numbers graph makes me think it's working. The maximum number of people we've had is 67 (which was tonight), or 5.6 players per server. The average during peak times is between 4.5 and 5, depending on exactly what two times you measure between. > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:hlds_linux- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of ics > Sent: 26 November 2008 21:18 > To: Half-Life dedicated Linux server mailing list > Subject: Re: [hlds_linux] hlds_linux Digest, Vol 9, Issue 199 > > This is single server instance? As a comparison (on full 4/4 server), > we > saw around 15% average usage for Q6600 2,4GHz machine and at peak > around > 24%, Q9550 2,83GHz only around 10%, peaked at 21% and dual core AMD > 4600+ 2,4GHz it is around 15%, peaked at 26%. I did not monitor for > long, only about 5 mins each time to time following cpu usage during > the > tests i ran with them. Versus increases network traffic rapidly > compared > to normal 4 player campaign so i would say that in versus cpu usage > would also be bigger. > > -ics > > Milton Ngan kirjoitti: > > While load average is a useful guideline, it does not necessarily > reflect CPU usage in all cases (e.g lots of I/O bound processes waiting > to run). > > > > Also it is an average over time (60 seconds). It can't tell you if > within the last 60 seconds that your CPU's were over saturated for a > second while a number of the games spiked due to simultaneous mob > spawns because that spike will get averaged out. The only way to see > that is to sample more frequently, which unfortunately puts more load > on the system. Or as someone else suggested, try playing on the servers > to get an idea of the servers responsiveness. > > > > The CPU usage of a L4D dedicated server will range from 15% of a > 2.5GHz core to 60%, and average around 22% based on my observations. > The more servers you run, the more likely you are to run into > simultaneous spikes and saturate your CPU. If I can gather enough data > on the events that cause spikes I am sure I can work a statistical > model for calculating the amount of CPU headroom you need. > > > > M. > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:hlds_linux- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ronny Schedel > > Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 10:47 AM > > To: Half-Life dedicated Linux server mailing list > > Subject: Re: [hlds_linux] hlds_linux Digest, Vol 9, Issue 199 > > > > > > It depends on how many cores/CPUs you have. In the SMP world, you can > run 4 > > processes at 4 cores at the same time without any problem. Your load > average > > is 4 or less, depending on how much load they consume. > > > > Optimum: > > load average <= cores * CPUs > > > > Overload: > > load average > cores * CPUs > > > > So, optimum for one Quad Core CPU is: > > load average <= 4 * 1 > > > > This means not you can only run 4 L4D servers on one Quad Core, you > have to > > look how the load is, because the servers does not run all the time, > they > > take some milliseconds sleep and other processes can run. Maybe you > can run > > 6 or 8. > > > > > > > >> Keep in mind that load average is an expression of queue depth. > Some > >> types > >> of servers can handle deep queues with no visible impact shown to > the end > >> user. Gameservers are not that kind of animal. They require > constant, > >> nearly instantaneous updates in both directions in order to have > truly > >> smooth, seamless play. In the past, any time I saw load average > above one > >> I > >> saw an impact of some sort. > >> > >> A load average above 3 seems to manifest itself in L4D servers in > some > >> unpredictable ways that can generally be ignored by most players. > >> > >> If you don't want to keep sending jarring notes that throw your > players > >> off, > >> you really want to see your load average below 2. This should be > true > >> regardless of the number of CPUs that you have in your box. Thus, > my > >> comment in an earlier email about converting one of my public > servers back > >> over to Steam group only. Having 2 dedicated to just the Steam > group will > >> still let people fill up the public servers first and use the two > >> semi-private ones as relief. > >> > >> > >> [snip] > >> > >> > >> > >>> ------------------------------ > >>> > >>> Message: 3 > >>> Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:28:11 +0100 > >>> From: "Ronny Schedel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>> Subject: Re: [hlds_linux] -fork configuration tip > >>> To: "Half-Life dedicated Linux server mailing list" > >>> <[email protected]> > >>> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; > >>> reply-type=original > >>> > >>> > >>> You have only 4 cores, with a load of 8 your server is overloaded. > CPU > >>> usage > >>> does not matter these days, any new multicore CPU can handle Source > >>> servers. > >>> If you want lag free and smooth servers, your load average should > not > >>> exceed > >>> your amount of cores. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>>> Our load average goes up to about 8. Given that we're running 12 > >>>> instances > >>>> on a quad-core, this doesn't bother me, and certainly performance > is > >>>> fine... > >>>> I've seen the blood spatter effect too, but I don't think that's > >>>> specifically performance related, it's just a glitch ;) > >>>> > >>>> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list > archives, > >> please visit: > >> http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux > >> > >> > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list > archives, please visit: > > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux > > > > _______________________________________________ > > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list > archives, please visit: > > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux > > > > > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, > please visit: > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
