Reply here if you want a linux dedicated server for rf2

I know I would like to see at a dedicated server for linux.

Dave at NRT told me, last night, that having this as a possible alternative to Server 2008 rc2 would have a big impact on the pricing of NRT's VPSs.

Thanks,

Bryan
 
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A dedicated server for linux could ONLY boost the number of servers and the number of people driving on those servers. It would also help to relieve costs for leagues running hosted servers, since this is where the majority of their costs go. Which would in turn reduce your cost to the league ...
 
Wow, I was really surprised to find out rf2 only has a windows dedicated server :S I didn't even consider that possibility before renting a VPS with the thoughts of hosting a server.

Anyway, I just read through the thread, will look in to setting up wine etc, never done so without a GUI, although now that I think about it, didn't use the GUI when I did anyway, should be good learning regardless :) Thanks for the thought of that!

When/if I get it running I'll post a guide to getting it running for others hopefully.

Well I got it running, but then the VPS host shut that down just about immediately :( No Wine allowed they say, pretty sad, was working quite nicely, only real snag for which the information wasn't readily out there for was that you must be running steam with an account that owns rF2 for the Steam version, everything else had already been covered in other threads.

This was the process on Debian Jessie, everything should be able to be google'd for more specific directions:

Install LXDE and tightVNCserver to get a desktop you can remotely connect to
Install Wine
Install Steam via VNC through Wine
Download rF2 through Steam (actually did this natively through steamcmd then later moved it over to the Wine steam install dir, steamcmd is quite a bit faster in my experience)
I had to make the vmod locally and uploaded through ftp (so Install vsftpd)
Also, an issue, because Wine couldn't run rFactor2.exe to install the workshop items, I had to download the cars/tracks manually and install them through modmgr.exe (also moved modmgr to the rFactor 2 root directory because I couldn't get to the steam install path through the directory browser, can probably unhide /.wine somehow but this was a quicker fix.)
Then that was pretty much it, pretty straight forward.

I'll be trying a VM next, see if the VPS host shuts that down, if so I'll give up and wait for a Linux server (this VPS is way too cheap for me to discard) :(

Just as a side note: I couldn't help but notice https://steamdb.info/app/400300/subs/ which I couldn't subscribe to, could this have a Linux version maybe? Or just a version that doesn't require a purchase? Either would be good, but the former is the dream :p
 
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And prices on VPS for both Windows and Linux have gone down considerably. A quick scan shows me I can get a VPS server running Windows for $12 a month now (and I did not look too hard [1]). Whilst I get that it would be nice to run it on Linux, the difference in price is not that big anymore. You could still try using Wine. Some people have good results with that.

[1] https://winity.io/index.php
 
Marcel Offermans said:
And prices on VPS for both Windows and Linux have gone down considerably. A quick scan shows me I can get a VPS server running Windows for $12 a month now (and I did not look too hard [1]). Whilst I get that it would be nice to run it on Linux, the difference in price is not that big anymore. You could still try using Wine. Some people have good results with that.

[1] https://winity.io/index.php
Click to expand...

Is a VPS a good option to run 3 or 4 rfactor 2 dedicated servers, teamspeak server an a website?

VPS are "cheap", but usally a community runs several applications and I think that a VPS can not be a good option to run them all at once:
- rfactor 2 dedicated servers
- Apache server
- MySQL server
- TeamSpeak 3 Server

(and there can be a few more... but these are the typical minimum).

From the above, rfactor 2 is the only one that can not be run on linux. If I were studio-397 I would seriously think about launch a dedicated linux version.

Dedicated Servers on Windows are not affordable for a league with 30-40 members.

In addition, I would like to know where did you find a VPS with Windows for 12$/month, for that price you can not get more than 40GB, 1vCore and 0.5GB of RAM, I don't think that's enough to run 1 rf2 dedicated server... Something decent starts in 30€/month, and that's if you will just run 1 rf2 server.
 
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I did find interesting options for VPS with windows servers when I was looking for an alternative to the forum I'm member, something in the range of $10~15 a month with specs much better than that for sure (the guys in rF2 Discord helped me finding them, try asking there mate). If you want to host your own site isn't better to use one of the free options out there and mix with some Google docs?
In EEC we use a dedicated server (I gave up of looking for the VPS options as I'm not admin anymore) that costs $50 a month, very good internet connection but only 70gb on the HD, if you run only rF2 that's more than enough, if you have stable 30~40 members getting some of them to give $2 a month could work
 
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Will Mazeo said:
I did find interesting options for VPS with windows servers when I was looking for an alternative to the forum I'm member, something in the range of $10~15 a month with specs much better than that for sure (the guys in rF2 Discord helped me finding them, try asking there mate). If you want to host your own site isn't better to use one of the free options out there and mix with some Google docs?
In EEC we use a dedicated server (I gave up of looking for the VPS options as I'm not admin anymore) that costs $50 a month, very good internet connection but only 70gb on the HD, if you run only rF2 that's more than enough, if you have stable 30~40 members getting some of them to give $2 a month could work
Click to expand...

I would appreciate if you tell me what hosting provider do you have. I can't find any dedicated server in Windows for less than 75€. (you can send me by Private Message if posting the name of provider is considered spam).

Thank you in advance!
 
Ralffan said:
I would appreciate if you tell me what hosting provider do you have. I can't find any dedicated server in Windows for less than 75€. (you can send me by Private Message if posting the name of provider is considered spam).

Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
Hey mate, we are using a company called Tagadab, located in UK, tho I'm not sure you'll find a deal like we have because ours is from 2013 and we never cancelled it
Our server is a Xeon, 4gb RAM, 70gbHDD, connection speed is like 500mbps if I'm not mistaken (used to be 100 but for some weir reason the speed tests since a few months ago now show 300~500 lol) windows server 2008 if I remember right, costs €50 a month

their VPS options are nice tho
 
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Thank you, mate. However I have been taking a look to their website and the cheapest option for dedicated servers is £74 (85€) with very similar specs to what you mention. I guess prices are much gihger now than in 2013.

VPS oferrs are quite good, speacially because you can choose the amount of RAM and space you want, however you only have 50GB of data transfer (I have no idea how much data our server consumes every month).

We have a good donation amount every year in our league, however we currently share our servers with other two leagues to be able to afford the price (95€/month currently). One league has gone to iRacing, so that's what happens when you depend on others... one day you have server ensured for 15 months and the next day you will run out of money in 7 months (and that's if the other league does not leave also...).

I'm seriously considering to buy one server and install it on my home. I think it can really be worh it. I can improve my internet connection and put a switch to ensure minimum data rate for the server... It can be a good option.

Sorry for explaining my life here :p
 
For sure having one in your house can work if you have the speed to host it, an old notebook will be good enough for all you need and you have full control of connection speed to the server and it can be a lot cheaper too depending on where you live. Just make sure to make it secure if you need to give the remote access to random "strangers"
 
+1 from a newbie here. As a long time linux sys admin, I have my own AC linux server (some VPS) which runs really smoothly. Would have expected that RF2 has something like this as well.
 
I'm good at managing Linux servers. I think Windows is only good for desktop gaming.

rFactor 2 already runs on Wine, but it would be even easier if we had native server. And with only a set of scripts and/or text configuration files that would define the mods to install and the tracks/cars to use we could fill internet with rFactor 2 servers.

A Linux server with 1GB of RAM and 40GB SSD storage for 6.5$/month. Where can I find such a price for Windows? Would Windows even run rFactor 2 with 1GB of RAM? A headless linux server can use as little as 100MB of RAM and less than 1GB of storage.
 
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