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What do you look for when choosing server hosting?


sup2k

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I very much prefer to rent a whole dedicated server rather than relying on some poop hosters like Nitrado or such.

Rent a dedicated server with a decent CPU, RAM and SSD. Make sure there is someone you know that knows how to work with Linux for security purposes. Start browsing for tutorials on how to get ARK running on a Linux server.

I do not recommend Windows Server as OS.

Better to do things yourself instead of letting hosting companies do it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

And no, I could not recommend any dedicated servers right now. I switched to hosting at home with my old i7 machine. I used to have a server at SoYouStart with a 4c/8t Xeon and HDD and ARK ran OK-ish. We were only a few regular users anyway. A SSD is a must for running ARK publicly with a decent userbase.

 

And before I forget: Rather have a CPU with less cores but higher clocks than CPU with more cores but lower clocks.

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I ran a server last year and ended up going with Host Havoc. Was completely clueless; went into it after researching the hosting company reviews. They at the time, seemed to have good reviews. I never had any issues with them and they were quick to respond to my questions. I simply wanted a host that was available 24/7 for any emergencies and that could explain the server hosting business to me basically.

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1 hour ago, powerstuck said:

All I can say is STAY AWAY FROM NITRADO.

Nitrado being it official server or a rented one, Ark will still lag like hell.

We're on SurvivalServers (after switching from Nitrado after a month) and there is a noticeable difference. 

Host Havoc is good as well. 

 

dedicated server or you got a single account?

 

I'm deciding between to go for survivalservers or gameserver because I am probably going to host a cluster (like how official do) with extra space for people to upload their save file then bring their stuff over to the main map

 

only thing about dedicated servers are they are haxpensive

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Price, server location options, and support. I've been using gtx gaming for 2 months so far and all the reviews I read about them that were negative was quite simply untrue. 

I had no trouble with support. My server never crashed or had connection issues like folks said.

The only problem I had and it wasn't gtx's fault. It was when the steam sunmer sales started it floored the servers handling clients updating and etc. 

So the server just wouldn't update for half of the day but the steam sale traffic slowed down eventually and I could finally update it.

https://www.gtxgaming.co.uk/

 

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51 minutes ago, HiImZech said:

dedicated server or you got a single account?

 

I'm deciding between to go for survivalservers or gameserver because I am probably going to host a cluster (like how official do) with extra space for people to upload their save file then bring their stuff over to the main map

 

only thing about dedicated servers are they are haxpensive

It's a single account because yes as you say dedicated server is expensive. I know survival offers options to limit how many ''games'' are run from your server. 

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We use SurvivalServers. The decision to go with them was based on cost, location (we wanted west coast servers and you would be surprised how many didnt offer them) and options (maps, etc.). We have a 30 cap non-dedicated server running Ragnarok. It has been super stable compared to the officials we also play on. We have had maybe 3 issues since it came up, and they usually respond via email in a matter of hours. The issues we have had were: billing (we had 2 servers, turned one off and they turned off the wrong one) - has happened twice because we upgraded the cap from 10 to 20 to 30. We recently had the server going up and down every 12 minutes. We reported it and the same day they notified us that the server we were on had a memory leak and immediately fixed it. Lag is non-existant, but we usually only get around 15 people on a active weekend. We are VERY happy with SurvivalServers and will continue to use them when the game goes live to set up a Rag server with official rates so that we can play there when the officials are crashing, being ddos'd, etc.

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I second a dedicated server with ARK Server Manager. I switched from Host Havoc after SE came out, and paid the same amount for the box as I would for the two servers, had a cluster up months before Havoc apparently got it, since added a Ragnarok server for the same price, and when poop happens, I load up a 4th server with a backup from which I can restore tames lost for example, without having to bring the server offline, without having to resort to spawning in similar replacements. Doesn't see use often, luckily, but it sure is a nice thing to have when it comes to it.

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I use a server hosting company called quickpacket.  They are pretty reasonable, $60 a month for dedi with 24gig of ram and an SSD running Ubuntu.  I can run up to 3 instances of ark with a max of 60 people per server, a mindcraft server and a rust server (to be fair those two are really low pop) before the box even starts to blink.  I tried gameservers originally and their 60 slot server (which was the same price) started rubber banding with 30 people on it.

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The best option for anyone with a decent home connection (10mb upload or higher) is to just pick up a used Dell Sff machine. These machines are normally all over for about 150 and our just 3 yr old retired corporate desktops most of the time. They normally come with 8-16 gigs of ram you can get i5 or i7 variants the i7 for example from 3 years ago has a 4770 which has excellent single thread performance (what ark needs) They also come with a 500gb HDD or a 256gb SSD. 

For around 150 these are the best bang for your buck for a game server at home.. you can run 2 ark servers on one with 80+ players per server and your server side "fps" will be 25+ the whole time.

I have a two half racks in my basement with actual servers on them some sporting 16 + cores. The fact is though that my little dell sff's i brought home from a work decommission actually do a better job hosting ark due to its limited mutli-thread support. 

I guess the reason I suggest this is because if you do what I suggest you would basically break even in 3-5 months. Plus you get full contro, Plus you get better performance, plus no player limit, and the ability to easily cluster for no additional cost. In the end it is always better to do this when possible.

If you just don't have the room or bandwidth available then pick up a VPS that is 8gb ram and 2 cores or just rent a cheap dedicated from somewhere like  https://www.wholesaleinternet.net/

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For me, other than price, I also looked for server locations, and conveniences with server customizing interfaces, since at the time I didn't know how to use Filezilla to directly edit my server settings. I've only used SurvivalServers and other than a few times where I was experiencing some issues in game, I've not had a problem with them, and their support is pretty quick. I've not had issues lately so I've been chalking up those earlier issues to just ARK issues and not the server. Runs like a dream for a small party of friends.

Survival Servers seems to have the most user-friendly server customizing interface for sure, and they are one of the cheapest out there. Plus they have a lot of server locations in the US. Even a friend who lives in California can connect and play our server that's hosted in New York just fine (and literally all my friends and I don't even live near NY either).

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To be honest and I haven't kept up with the latest anti ddos techniques which the only method I remember reading about 5 years ago. 

It involved directing net raffic into a black hole and changing a lot other things around to avoid further bombardment from packets. It all took time to do but most folks that are under attack just have to ride it out or do the above mentioned

But as a requirement I think you'll be fine without it if it wasn't offered. I wouldn't think they would bother a private owner.

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10 hours ago, powerstuck said:

All I can say is STAY AWAY FROM NITRADO.

Nitrado being it official server or a rented one, Ark will still lag like hell.

We're on SurvivalServers (after switching from Nitrado after a month) and there is a noticeable difference. 

Host Havoc is good as well. 

 

I've had Nitrado, 3 servers and after I had them move my files to a new datacenter and fixed a few things it ran really well with a low ping.  Datacenters are source pools that companies like Nitrado contract with.  I liked their server interface the most.  While I did have some tickets, they have worked with me to resolve.  Tried a few others, but in the end I stayed with them.  Not only that but they helped with my cross ark travel servers which at the time not many were able to do.

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