If, like me, you’ve ever wondered what’s behind the game servers you play on and how they actually work, you might find this informative article very interesting. In this part one article, I will tell you how game server hosting came to be and what it took to get the online gaming world off the ground.

The history of dedicated game server hosting:

Dedicated game server hosting is where it all began for online gaming, as when the first online gamers started, the only way to play games on the internet was by hosting their games on their own machines (a standard home PC).

All the player had to do was purchase their game and create a server that would be hosted and played from home, this was often done simultaneously on the users home PC under a dedicated server application similar to the server option dedicated days included with most games like Counter Strike Source. Due to the low speeds and specs of home computers these days, gamers’ machine was often put under enormous stress and only offered gamers poor server performance and gameplay.

Even when Internet providers offered a higher connection such as faster broadband and more bandwidth to help them keep up with server load, the data that needed to be calculated was still too much for most systems to handle. home computers will handle them themselves. In these early stages of online gaming, home computers simply did not have the power to process such detailed, high-speed data required for high-end online gaming and parallel dedicated hosting. Factors such as 3D graphics, game physics, and the sorting and distribution of network data that needed to be sent to every player connecting to the game server simply couldn’t be done to the high standards necessary for good online play. .

Dedicated servers:

The dedicated server app is what was used on the servers (hosted from the players home pc), this app was created specifically for the job of hosting servers from the players home pc, this would work by collecting and distributing data from each player that is connected. to the server, this would be sent to all other players on that game server showing all players the same images.

Standalone dedicated server is a complete machine that is used only to host a game server and no one plays on it. A separate dedicated server is a much more efficient and effective solution than using a peer to peer arrangement such as home dedicated server which would host and play the game server on your own PC.

Unlike many gamers, a server host will know all the internals of a game server, such as how it runs and works, including the server software and its operating system (OS) and the hardware that powers the machine. dedicated.

The growth of game servers:

In the growth of online gaming, gamers had to start looking for better solutions to their server dilemmas, this was mainly because LAN events, leagues, and gaming teams began to form, these gaming teams online were made up of players from all over the world. Faster and more reliable hosting solutions were sought to deliver more power and smoother gameplay. Game hosting solutions needed to deliver true performance with low ping (return latency) in tens of milliseconds instead of the hundreds or thousands that home computers provided. This was a very big need due to the size at which online game servers could be run (up to 20 players). Now the number of players that can join a single online game server has increased to 30, 40 and even 60, these numbers are still growing to this day and will probably continue to do so for many years to come thanks to the minds of gamers. online. game designers

Dedicated game server solutions:

Using a professional server was the obvious solution. These servers were specifically designed to read data and transmit large amounts of it faster so players can play without losing performance. Game hosting companies bought rack servers and placed them in data centers around the world to host online games. Prices for this type of luxury were very high at first ($300 – $800 or £150 – £400 per month, sometimes even more depending on server specs). Prices have been able to drop drastically due to the huge success in multiplayer online gaming, which grew 1000-fold in just a few years.