Estimation on the capacity of a server like this?

[Krustbox]

Hi there. I purchased a license almost a year ago, but never got around to using it much. You had mentioned back then that you would be working on a more scalable version of the server software in the future major release, i was wondering the progress on this? Is there yet an estimated time that this will be available?

In the meantime, i was wondering if you could give me an estimated number of users supported by a server such as the $35 kickass vps listed here. Based on those specs would it support a couple hundred users?

Also this question might be a little dumb, but is the number of supported users based only on the number of connections, or also the activity of the users? For example, would 9 people playing two tables at once together take up the same amount of resources and bandwidth as 18 separate people playing 2 separate tables? Is multi-tabling cumbersome or is it only based on the number of connected users?

[Kent Briggs]

Hi there. I purchased a license almost a year ago, but never got around to using it much. You had mentioned back then that you would be working on a more scalable version of the server software in the future major release, i was wondering the progress on this? Is there yet an estimated time that this will be available?

Currently I'm experimenting with databases and disk performance. I wouldn't expect anything before 2011.

In the meantime, i was wondering if you could give me an estimated number of users supported by a server such as the $35 kickass vps listed here. Based on those specs would it support a couple hundred users?

Any decent hardware with a couple gigs of ram and a 100 Mbps connection should be able to support a couple hundred users. It's hard to simulate without actually loading the system with real players so that's just a guess.

Also this question might be a little dumb, but is the number of supported users based only on the number of connections, or also the activity of the users? For example, would 9 people playing two tables at once together take up the same amount of resources and bandwidth as 18 separate people playing 2 separate tables? Is multi-tabling cumbersome or is it only based on the number of connected users?

Multi-tabling does use more resources but the actual table packets are relatively small. The main drain are new users signing on because they have to pull down the 700K flash client and all the graphics. But once that's cached locally, it doesn't happen again for that player. The other packets are keeping the player and table lists refreshed and that's equal for each player.

[Krustbox]

All good to hear, thanks for the timely response!

[Krustbox]

I contacted a couple vps providers about their connection speed, and here is the response i got:

"Our network is connected via 100Mb/s connections to multiple providers. However the speed of your connection will be determined by the link in the connection between you and the servers.

You can usually expect inbound and outbound speeds of anywhere from 500kpbs to several MBs on average."

and from another:

"Thanks for your interest. On our Windows platform, you can expect about 3Mbps up/down."

Now you mentioned 100mps... but are these servers here the same as my home connection which is 20mb down and 5mb up? Or will they function better andget the job done because they are special servers? Will the 3mbps server get the job done for a hundred or more users? or no? I'm left confused.

[Kent Briggs]

For any particular user, their speed will of course will be limited by their own ISP. For my demo site hosted by 1and1.com, it shows about 15 Mb/s for both the upload and download speeds when I tested it at http://www.speedtest.net (logged in via Remote Desktop Connection). So you might ask around for the actual speedtest.net speeds instead of their advertised number.

[drw111]

I'm starting to experience lag with about 70 users and having multiple tournaments running at same time, effectively the same as having around 180 users. Since I have registered 260 users without any marketing yet and still in beta, what would you reccomend to be able to handle 1000 users playing an average of 3 tournaments at a time.

[Kent Briggs]

what would you reccomend to be able to handle 1000 users playing an average of 3 tournaments at a time.

A single system will not scale that high. You would need to spread the load across multiple servers with additional licenses and create some kind of centralized login system to redirect players to a particular server.

[TheMark]

Also this question might be a little dumb, but is the number of supported users based only on the number of connections, or also the activity of the users? For example, would 9 people playing two tables at once together take up the same amount of resources and bandwidth as 18 separate people playing 2 separate tables? Is multi-tabling cumbersome or is it only based on the number of connected users?

Multi-tabling does use more resources but the actual table packets are relatively small. The main drain are new users signing on because they have to pull down the 700K flash client and all the graphics. But once that's cached locally, it doesn't happen again for that player. The other packets are keeping the player and table lists refreshed and that's equal for each player.

So if you set up a tournament to start at say 8:00 and most everyone logs into the site at and around 7:50 for the tournament is there going to most likely be an issue? sorry i am new to the site and have several questions that may seem redundant.
thanks in advance

[Kent Briggs]

So if you set up a tournament to start at say 8:00 and most everyone logs into the site at and around 7:50 for the tournament is there going to most likely be an issue? sorry i am new to the site and have several questions that may seem redundant.
thanks in advance

It would only be an issue if that was the first time everyone had logged into your site. Otherwise if they had been there at least once before, the flash client and all the graphics would have been cached locally by their browser and would load very quickly without any strain on the server.

[coyote]

what would you reccomend to be able to handle 1000 users playing an average of 3 tournaments at a time.

A single system will not scale that high. You would need to spread the load across multiple servers with additional licenses and create some kind of centralized login system to redirect players to a particular server.

have you any idea how to implement such a system?