New Hardware and status on lag and invoker

[Gelston]

Dude, I was put into 20-second RT because when SIMUCOIN DELIVER'ing + receiving Store items was (according to the GMs) creating an inordinate amount of screamers. I don't want to upset the powers that be, so I've been doing CONSIDER {self} twice, between each delivery, lol. I don't want to give them a headache, but maybe this was one of the things, discussed, that will hopefully be fine-tuned. Alright.

As a former member of staff, set off all the fucking screamers you can. They need to fix that shit.

[bunnymustdie]

As a former member of staff, set off all the fucking screamers you can. They need to fix that shit.

What's a screamer? Like a notification of some kind?

[Methais]

Thinking more about this, the problem with Dreavenings was that too many people were gathered together in one room. Now, the invoker is gonna work only every 4 hours, so clearly these rooms will be empt-... wait a minute....

I'm pretty sure the biggest difference, other than people popping in, getting spells, and then leaving, is that when you get spelled up, only you see it instead of everyone in the entire room seeing every spell that's being cast on everybody.

[AnOrdim]

The picture of the new hardware confirms that if anyone ever gets the files for the servers it could literally be run from your garage with minimal difference. That is some cheap ass hardware being put in while prices at DR keep getting crazier and crazier. Stillfront getting their monies worth out of simutronics thats for sure.

[BLZrizz]

The picture of the new hardware confirms that if anyone ever gets the files for the servers it could literally be run from your garage with minimal difference. That is some cheap ass hardware being put in while prices at DR keep getting crazier and crazier. Stillfront getting their monies worth out of simutronics thats for sure.

I'm interested in the technical aspects of this, can you explain what we're seeing and why it's cheap?

[AnOrdim]

I'm interested in the technical aspects of this, can you explain what we're seeing and why it's cheap?

What you see is a "white box" server, basically a build your own. For a business, this is usually done because the perception is you are saving money. There was also specific parts mentioned in discord, the processors are workstation-class XEONs, which are fine on paper because they have very fast clock speeds which is what will help a single-threaded process the most and some 860 SSDs which are Samsung's consumer class drives. On paper all of these parts are perfectly fine and generally speaking should perform just fine. Depending on how many SSDs they decided to RAID together and in what format I'd question if the onboard RAID controller of the unknown motherboard could properly handle the bandwidth of multiple SSDs but I'm also not sure if storage bandwidth matters as much for the game or not.

Building your own server, much like someone building their own computer, leaves you to deal with each part manufacturer separately if something breaks. In a home environment this is usually fine because you are accepting your own personal level of fault tolerance and downtime. In a business, you are impacting your bottom line and your customers. The parts described could easily be replicated in a very cost-effective build from HP or Dell with a matching 3 year + 2 hour response time onsite warranty, meaning if something breaks they will usually be able to get a replacement part onsite the same day and get things going again. I also don't see, but this doesn't mean it doesn't exist on the box, any out of band support access such as ILO or IDRAC that allows someone to remotely manage a server even if turned off.

It's basically gambling the downtime over the next X years of service of the devices. Maybe they stocked up a few extra spare parts and have an IT guy that sits there all day anyway that can quickly repair them. Maybe they just don't care and want to make the absolute highest profit margin. It could even be something inbetween. Without knowing the exact model number of things like the motherboard and RAM it starts to get all theory crafting etc, but for me the choice between a whitebox server over a major manufacturer's build can only point to razor-thin budgets.

[Gelston]

What's a screamer? Like a notification of some kind?

Yes. It spams all the GM's screens in all caps.

[AnOrdim]

I think I found the motherboard:
https://www.dihuni.com/product/super...t-r4-lga-2066/

https://www.supermicro.com/en/produc...board/X11SRL-F

[bunnymustdie]

Yes. It spams all the GM's screens in all caps.

That sounds like a bizarre feature. With several hundred active players online, surely there would frequently be different people redeeming stuff from the store, some doing multiple items at once. What good is the screamer feature meant to serve?

[Gelston]

That sounds like a bizarre feature. With several hundred active players online, surely there would frequently be different people redeeming stuff from the store, some doing multiple items at once. What good is the screamer feature meant to serve?

It lets GMs know something isn't working how it is supposed to. It isn't a super common occurrence, or at least, not when I was there.