How to host game servers

For many reasons (such as power requirements, server cooling provisions, hardware costs), most servers hosted in data centers now use multi-core CPUs, such as Intel Xeon Scalable Processor line, with relatively low clock speeds, typically 2.1Ghz to 2.8Ghz. These systems are typically used in virtualized infrastructure, allowing operators to pool CPUs, RAM and network connectivity to improve performance.

Clearly this is unsuitable for single-threaded, power-hungry games which tend to require a game server CPU running at 3.5Ghz or higher.

To help solve this problem, Intel has developed the Xeon E-series of high performance processors. These Intel Xeon server CPUs are capable of delivering burst speeds of up to 5.1Ghz across eight cores – making them one of the best server CPU lineups for gaming.

“But if game servers are engineered for single thread operations, aren’t I paying for another seven CPU cores that will never be used?”

The good news is that no, you’re not.

A single, bare-metal machine with an Intel Xeon E-series CPU is capable of running multiple instances of a games server. In theory, you could run an unlimited amount of game servers on the same dedicated server to ensure you’re not paying for resources that go unused. 

This will of course depend on application efficiency, server RAM for gaming requirements, storage and network configuration of the virtual and physical machine. You’ll also need to consider how many simultaneous players you hope to serve and the size of the map or world used by the game.

A good game server hosting company will allow game studios to test hardware during their development phase to optimize hardware resource usage. This ensures studios get the maximum return on their hosted games server investment – and that their players have the best experience too. (You can talk to our team about development phase hardware testing here.)

When choosing a server for gaming, CPU tends to be the highest priority. However, server RAM for gaming is also important – will the dedicated machine have sufficient memory to run the application adequately? 

CPU and RAM tend to have a direct correlation – hosted games servers typically maintain a ratio between the number of CPU cores and the RAM allocated to each. When renting a bare-metal server with a high-power Intel Xeon E-series CPU, you’ll probably want to run more game server instances simultaneously, requiring more RAM in the process.

This means that if you double the capability of your CPU, you’ll probably need to double server RAM for gaming too. But like we said, the only way to be sure is to test configurations to ensure you are getting the best performance for your investment.

If you’re weighing up your game server hosting options, researching the best server CPU for gaming, or want to arrange a test for your own games server application, please get in touch.