FTB Minecraft server hardware requirements/possible server build

[Ensefalon]

Me and a large group of guys all play sandbox games like minecraft and usually have large LAN parties in a special room...This might not be the place for me to be posting a thread like this but this is the only forum I stalk regularly.
I'll provide a list of mods on request
I plan on using 104 mods and a world generated on amplified running 1.7.10
I have many server options for me to choose from but nothing modern from today's xeon families after 2011
I was wondering also if my dell poweredge 1950 gen II, 2x Dual core Xeon 5160's @3.00 ghz with 24GB of RAM and 4x 36GB 15K RPM in RAID 10.
I am not limited in any way in both internet speed or network speed.
What are both the minimum and recommended specs for hosting a minecraft server with 104 mods and would my server be a thoughtful consideration to put in mind?
Quick edit: Any hardware recommendations are appreciated

 

[silentbogo]

http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Server/Requirements/Dedicated#Console

Forget about poweredge, and forget about paid VPS hosting.

I think I've only played Minecraft once, but from what I know, I seriously doubt that even with all the mods your group will exceed requirements for 12+ player server.
My opinion: for less than 10 people you should try one of the embedded platforms first, like something based on Celeron J1900 or N3150, put 8GB RAM and a 60GB SSD in it - see how it goes.
You should be able to make it under $100 if you go with used HW. Plus it will be quiet and consume no more than 15W from the wall (for the entire system).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135391

 

[FYFI13]

Soe time ago i tried to host Vanilla MC server on a laptop with Pentium N3520. With 7 players on experience wasn't the best... MC server can utilize 1 CPU core/thread only.
I'd say either get a CPU with strong single core performance (Pentium G3258/G4400) or just pay for proper hosting and forget about all hassle. SSD is a must.

 

[Ensefalon]

http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Server/Requirements/Dedicated#Console

Forget about poweredge, and forget about paid VPS hosting.

I think I've only played Minecraft once, but from what I know, I seriously doubt that even with all the mods your group will exceed requirements for 12+ player server.
My opinion: for less than 10 people you should try one of the embedded platforms first, like something based on Celeron J1900 or N3150, put 8GB RAM and a 60GB SSD in it - see how it goes.
You should be able to make it under $100 if you go with used HW. Plus it will be quiet and consume no more than 15W from the wall (for the entire system).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135391

Here's the limiting factor with it...I would be limited RAM wise and also the ability to scale or to make hardware changes. SSDs burn out, I will have no ability to raid drives. I really like your idea...I should probably put some money towards some new processors for that PE 1950 ii

 

[brandonwh64]

I host a FTB infinity server on a linux VM using a ramdisk and it runs perfectly fine. All you really need is 16GB of ram and a quad core to get a smoother experience for your players.

 

[newtekie1]

Last I checked, Minecraft is still single threaded. So multi-core Xeons aren't going to be the best option. A higher clocked desktop processor, with tons of RAM, and an SSD would be the best option.

I'd go with an i5-6600K or even the older generation i5-4690K/4670K. You can probably pick up the previous generation stuff pretty cheap. Toss 16-32GB of RAM in it, and a 120GB SSD in for the OS and a 240GB in for the Minecraft world to live on. And fear SSDs, they don't burn out quickly. The modern ones you'd have to write to them, at full speed, for years before they'd start to wear out.

 

[FYFI13]

Last I checked, Minecraft is still single threaded. So multi-core Xeons aren't going to be the best option. A higher clocked desktop processor, with tons of RAM, and an SSD would be the best option.

I'd go with an i5-6600K or even the older generation i5-4690K/4670K. You can probably pick up the previous generation stuff pretty cheap. Toss 16-32GB of RAM in it, and a 120GB SSD in for the OS and a 240GB in for the Minecraft world to live on. And fear SSDs, they don't burn out quickly. The modern ones you'd have to write to them, at full speed, for years before they'd start to wear out.

Even i5 4690K is waste of money, G3258 single core performance is exactly same.

 

[silentbogo]

If you, guys, say Minecraft is single-threaded, then I will definitely agree on G3258 or maybe even 3260 (couple of $$ cheaper).
I think there is still no CPU that can match that IPC in single-threaded tasks without overclocking.

BTW, if you are in US, you can also check out G3260T.
There are lots of them on eBay, priced under $40 (leftovers from AIO PC upgrades).
It's underclocked, but still quite adequate for a 35W CPU.
All together, with an SSD it can be powered even by the cheapest 60W PicoPSU, which translates to almost no overhead to your monthly power usage.

 

[newtekie1]

Even i5 4690K is waste of money, G3258 single core performance is exactly same.

The doubled cache size does help single threaded performance.

Plus, the extra cores do help if you run other things in the background, like mapping software, and world backups. The software I used to generate map images of the world was multi-threaded, so it ran a lot faster on the 6-Core I used compared to the dual-core I started with. Then there was the SQL database running for the anti-grief mod, and the management software running to manage users and permissions.

 

[Ensefalon]

The doubled cache size does help single threaded performance.

Plus, the extra cores do help if you run other things in the background, like mapping software, and world backups. The software I used to generate map images of the world was multi-threaded, so it ran a lot faster on the 6-Core I used compared to the dual-core I started with. Then there was the SQL database running for the anti-grief mod, and the management software running to manage users and permissions.

How much cache is recommended? I'm trying to get a decent pair of Xeons that can manage the minecraft server load, but I am limited to models of socket 771, the 5000-5400 series of xeons. Recommendations?

 

[brandonwh64]

Here is what I got running. This is currently hosting two identical FTB servers with some extra mods (201 mods total). Below that is what resources its using without any players connected to the server.

 

[newtekie1]

How much cache is recommended? I'm trying to get a decent pair of Xeons that can manage the minecraft server load, but I am limited to models of socket 771, the 5000-5400 series of xeons. Recommendations?

Don't get Xeons, you can't overclock them. Hell, if you are using hardware that old, get a Q6600 or a Q9650 and push them to over 3GHz. A Quad-core is nice to have to handle the background tasks associated with Minecraft servers, but any more than that is largely wasted. You want a high clocked Quad-core.

If anything, start with a G3258 and overclock that in a Z97 motherboard. When that starts to bog down, grab a cheap used i5-4670k/4690k off ebay. You can already pick them up in the low $150 range.

 

[Ensefalon]

Don't get Xeons, you can't overclock them. Hell, if you are using hardware that old, get a Q6600 or a Q9650 and push them to over 3GHz. A Quad-core is nice to have to handle the background tasks associated with Minecraft servers, but any more than that is largely wasted. You want a high clocked Quad-core.

If anything, start with a G3258 and overclock that in a Z97 motherboard. When that starts to bog down, grab a cheap used i5-4670k/4690k off ebay. You can already pick them up in the low $150 range.

I'm trying to avoid spending over a hundred dollars on a minecraft server alone...I'll reuse my previous router/web caching proxy server (HP DL360 G5) and put some X5460's at 3.16ghz.

For server use...I don't want to overclock, I'm looking to squeeze as much life out of my server as possible.

Vmware is utter crap when it comes to hosting dedicated gameservers

 

[Ensefalon]

Here is what I got running. This is currently hosting two identical FTB servers with some extra mods (201 mods total). Below that is what resources its using without any players connected to the server.

May I ask what hardware you are using?

 

[brandonwh64]

May I ask what hardware you are using?

It run on a HP dual socketed 48 core 300+ GB of ram ESX host. The specs are in my picture of the VM I am running. The VM is running ubuntu and I have both minecraft servers on a 4gb ram disk each.

 

[7uppi]

Now I kind of hope that some of you guys will see this message even though it is a couple of years since this thread was last active.

But my question is;
Now as of mid 2018, is a G3258 still a good option?
I have made a little build and was wondering if it is looking okay, or too much?

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/shWcMZ

 

[Vario]

Now I kind of hope that some of you guys will see this message even though it is a couple of years since this thread was last active.

But my question is;
Now as of mid 2018, is a G3258 still a good option?
I have made a little build and was wondering if it is looking okay, or too much?

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/shWcMZ

If you are purely hosting a MC server its probably fine but if you want to do anything else on it you'd probably want a quad core. You can buy a G3258 off ebay for around $25.

 

[newtekie1]

If you are purely hosting a MC server its probably fine but if you want to do anything else on it you'd probably want a quad core. You can buy a G3258 off ebay for around $25.

I agree. I'd say if you aready have the motherboard or processor, go with it. But if you are buying the motherboard and processor, I'd go with something a little newer that uses DDR4.

 

[Toothless]

Now I kind of hope that some of you guys will see this message even though it is a couple of years since this thread was last active.

But my question is;
Now as of mid 2018, is a G3258 still a good option?
I have made a little build and was wondering if it is looking okay, or too much?

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/shWcMZ

Honestly could sell the board and cooler, get a lower, non-overclocking board and Hyper 212 and save some cash.

 

[Ensefalon]

I agree. I'd say if you aready have the motherboard or processor, go with it. But if you are buying the motherboard and processor, I'd go with something a little newer that uses DDR4.

Why DDR4? DDR2 might be slow as a shit stain running down my dad's ass crack but the cas timings DDR2 has are, W A Y better

 

[Toothless]

Why DDR4? DDR2 might be slow as a shit stain running down my dad's ass crack but the cas timings DDR2 has are, W A Y better

Not sure where ddr2 came from but the guy has ddr3.

 

[Ensefalon]

Not sure where ddr2 came from but the guy has ddr3.

My point still stands that memory throughput is not as important as individual dimm CAS timings due to the amount of commitable read and writes a minecraft dedi does to RAM

 

[hat]

Not really. All these things come together to result in the actual access time of the memory.

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/memory-performance-speed-latency

The timings of current DDR4 memory may seem ridiculous to those of us who got started with DDR1 or DDR2, but those timings are only one part of the puzzle.

 

[newtekie1]

Why DDR4? DDR2 might be slow as a shit stain running down my dad's ass crack but the cas timings DDR2 has are, W A Y better

Because DDR4 has an upgrade path, and the latency on DDR4 can actually be less than DDR3.

 

[7uppi]

Heh. I might have misstyped something in my first comment. The thing is, I don't have anything. I am planning to buy everything at some point, and build it from scratch.

Now because I have to buy everything, any good idea for the hardware needed, if I am also planning to run other servers. It should be noted, that I am not going to run more than one server at a time.