Will upgrading RAM improve server performance?

[Brad387]

I am currently running a small Tekkit server for three friends locally on my laptop using Hamachi, but its performance so far has been rather underwhelming. Prior to even creating any machines and with only two people online at once, there is still an unacceptable amount of lag due to the world generation with my FPS hitting as low as 20 on the lowest possible graphical settings (I can run Tekkit single-player fine on medium settings roughly with a solid 60 FPS). My friends have also complained of this and it is dissappointing because I had had plans of expanding the server to around 10 people and setting up a small community. However, I doubt this will be possible now because more people will result in both more machines and a larger world generating. Any tips as to how I can possible solve this?

I have kept plugins to a minimum, with just the Essentials Core plugin to offer some basic commands (I wanted to change the spawn because it bugged out). I also run only the Tekkit client for me to play on, Hamachi to run the network and the server client itself also. I currently have a 2.1 Ghz AMD Athlon P320 processor and 4 GB of RAM. My internet should be getting an upgrade tomorrow to fibre-optic, with promised speeds of around 59 MBPS up and around 30 MBPS down. This will undoubtedly help, but I doubt it will still be enough. I heard of a plugin that helps with lag. What is it? Also, as the name of this very thread suggests, I would like to know if upgrading to 8 GB RAM will improve the performance of the server? Thanks for any advice people leave.

[Djinnii]

If you are playing on the same machine you are hosting the server from with those specs you will see some performance degradation.

That looks to me like a fairly old piece of kit, you might be better served sticking it in a closet somewhere to host your files and server stuff off and getting yourself a proper everyday machine.

You *MIGHT* see a performance increase by upping the RAM, but I think it more likely that you are running into a bottleneck with your CPU and HDD.

Wish I could get those speeds I could run all my servers from home....

I have run a pretty lag free server on only 512mb of allocated RAM to Tekkit

Try using Spigot MCPC: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/36903976/Spigot/craftbukkit-1.2.5-R4.1-MCPC-SNAPSHOT.jar (Simply replace your own current jar file with one)

[TheSpoonyOne]

I am currently running a small Tekkit server for three friends locally on my laptop using Hamachi, but its performance so far has been rather underwhelming. Prior to even creating any machines and with only two people online at once, there is still an unacceptable amount of lag due to the world generation with my FPS hitting as low as 20 on the lowest possible graphical settings (I can run Tekkit single-player fine on medium settings roughly with a solid 60 FPS). My friends have also complained of this and it is dissappointing because I had had plans of expanding the server to around 10 people and setting up a small community. However, I doubt this will be possible now because more people will result in both more machines and a larger world generating. Any tips as to how I can possible solve this?

I have kept plugins to a minimum, with just the Essentials Core plugin to offer some basic commands (I wanted to change the spawn because it bugged out). I also run only the Tekkit client for me to play on, Hamachi to run the network and the server client itself also. I currently have a 2.1 Ghz AMD Athlon P320 processor and 4 GB of RAM. My internet should be getting an upgrade tomorrow to fibre-optic, with promised speeds of around 59 MBPS up and around 30 MBPS down. This will undoubtedly help, but I doubt it will still be enough. I heard of a plugin that helps with lag. What is it? Also, as the name of this very thread suggests, I would like to know if upgrading to 8 GB RAM will improve the performance of the server? Thanks for any advice people leave.

First off, you lucky sob. 59 up....I transfer around 150 GB to my vps every Month (Windows 8 keeps track, its pretty cool :3) and I do it at .5-.8 mpb/s

Anyway, You will not have to worry about your internet speeds, if they run at the speeds you have stated, it will NEVER lag (because of internet connection that is).

Now, what I'm concerned about:

What is your current OS for the box hosting the server?

What Version of Java (32 or 64 bit)?

How much of the 4GB is Dedicated to the server, or you can just let me know what your launch.bat (or start.bat, ect) looks like.

What MotherBoard are you using? Socket S1 is pretty old.

Also, this processor isn't really going to cut it if you want to run a server AND play on it at the same time. With 128 KB level 1 and 512 KB level 2 caches per each core, you are not really doing to be able to multitask...especially with java.

What I suggest:

Upgrade your motherboard to a AM3+ Board (Here is a Cheap Suggestion, 4/5 Eggs on Newegg)

(Be Sure your other hardware is SATA, with how old your CPU is you might be running PATA only)

Depending on if your current RAM is DDR3 (prob not) you would need to get new RAM (Cheap Suggestion, This will get the job done easy)

(This Board has 2 DDR2 slots so you can use your old ram also ;D Just be sure to read the manual and put them where they need to go..usually color coded.)

Doing this will turn your current box into a machine that can handle running a server! It's important to say up-to-date with technology

Welp, that's everything I can suggest, this is of course if you are willing to spend a bit of money to host a quality server. And with your speeds, you are extremely lucky not to have to pay monthly for a host So consider following my advice if you are genuinely interested in hosting a server community.

[Brad387]

Sorry. I have it the wrong way round. It is meant to be 59 download and around 30 upload for my internet, but still pretty good. As for RAM, it is DDR3 actually and 8 GB is the maximum I can install. Besides replacing my HDD with an SSD, which would prove very expensive, I cannot change processors or motherboards - because it is of course a laptop. I currently have, if I am reading the BAT file correctly, 2 GB of my 4 GB dedicated to the server. On that logic, I believe that upgrading to 8 GB would allow me to give around 3 or 4 GB to the server. Would that really not help at least reduce lag for just the three of us to play?

EDIT: I have 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium with both 64-bit and 32-bit (for browsers) versions of Java installed.

[Djinnii]

Hi,

I think we figured as much about the internet connection. It's still 50times better than I can get here

Sorry, but your CPU will be your bottleneck here. the only thing I can really suggest is that you buy yourself a new machine to use everyday and just run the laptop as a server. (as long as it's properly ventilated, there shouldn't be any problems.)

You could also try putting a lighter OS on it, if you don't need to use it for everyday stuff, CentOS or something similar.

[Brad387]

So, do you believe it worthwhile upgrading or not my RAM?

EDIT: I also just did a Speed Test on my newly fitted internet. Currently receiving a 25 MBPS download and around 15 MBPS upload. It should improve after a couple of days also, or so I was told.

[Brad387]

Okay. I just checked on a resource monitor and my RAM isn't what is running out. It is my pathetic CPU reaching its absolute limit. Looks like there is simply no way I will be able to host...

[Djinnii]

You can trim down your OS to say Win7 basic or CentOS or Ubuntu. Make sure you only run things you actually need.

Short of that you would need either a new computer to use, or a new computer to host. your laptop would be perfectly capable of hosting a minecraft server, if its dedicated to doing just that.

[Brad387]

I only have this computer available to me to actually both play and host. The other computers in the house are each other people's properties and not mine to use. So, if it is not possible to host and play at the same time, then it simply isn't going to happen.