Server hardware sure aint cheap!

Does anyone have a line on someone who might be willing to sponsor us some server hardware for some advertising and PR?

What we really need is 4 of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103573

and one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813151009

Then the usual... Ram, Hard disks, etc..

This isn't to say our server hardware is failing... It's ticking along just fine. Rather, to expand in any more directions, we need more cpu.

I've put in a proposal to newegg.com, and also one to Sun (who was offering a potential sponsorship on servers a couple months ago).

Any other thoughts?

Dru

Just some other sites that i know of...Tigerdirect,Pricewatch hope this helps some

Not sure that you would qualify but have you ever looked into making DC a non-profit organization? Recreational orginizations are legitimat as non - profit. I guess its kind of a long shot / hassle but if you were able to, then you can get equipment ect a lot cheaper.

I'll keep my eyes open for anything else that might be helpfull.

Continuum wrote:

Not sure that you would qualify but have you ever looked into making DC a non-profit organization? Recreational orginizations are legitimat as non - profit. I guess its kind of a long shot / hassle but if you were able to, then you can get equipment ect a lot cheaper.

I'll keep my eyes open for anything else that might be helpfull.

I don't know if DC would qualify, but if they do, these guys supply stuff.

http://www.techsoup.org/stock/default.asp?visit=1

Crazy cheap!

im not too sure about free stuff but i do know a place to find very very cheap stuff. check out www.slickdeals.net . i always find extremly cheap stuff there and resell elswhere for fast tax free $$.

DoctorGreenthumb wrote:

im not too sure about free stuff but i do know a place to find very very cheap stuff. check out www.slickdeals.net . i always find extremly cheap stuff there and resell elswhere for fast tax free $$.

a similar place is www.deals2buy.com, i will admit they rarely have individual hardware parts but when they do it will be really cheap. just have to check.

they do have dell discount coupons, which could be helpful at some point to someone i guess.

(btw, i always think a tdm/tam/ctf DC server would be great. i know there's a reason why people play on the RPG server but i'm sure enough people would be interested. i would really enjoy one of those gametypes with the people from DC)

i seriously doubt its possible to get opeteron 280's at any greater discount than tigerdirect/newegg. all of the mention resellers only sell low end machine.

but is there truly a need for a quad opteron server? as you said the current server is chugging along fine, and I can't really imagine any new RPG-related features that would seriously bog down the server; worst case scenario, bring the server down to 16-18 players.

and if you are considering an upgrade, since the current server is "only" an amd 3700, a dual opteron 265 (at a fraction of the cost) should be more than sufficient to run anything for 2004 and would probably easily support over a dozen players on 2007.

or get a used quad g5 tower or something

crispycritters wrote:

and if you are considering an upgrade, since the current server is "only" an amd 3700, a dual opteron 265 (at a fraction of the cost) should be more than sufficient to run anything for 2004 and would probably easily support over a dozen players on 2007.

Actually, any serious decrease in cpu for each proc would actually make the server slower. That's why the 280 which is the same clock speed as the 3700

The current UT2004 server is a singlethreaded app. So a multiproc wont help out with that either.

What it would help out with the forums, webpage etc... More to the point though is when UT2007 comes along, we need more cpu to run both apps. Also UT2007 will be multithreaded, so it could take advantage of the additional procs.

Although the 4 proc node would be ideal, I'm looking more seriously at the 2 cpu model, with 2 dual core procs, that would be 4x the overall processor power we have right now. Not quite 8x, but what can you do?

Continuum wrote:

Not sure that you would qualify but have you ever looked into making DC a non-profit organization? Recreational orginizations are legitimat as non - profit. I guess its kind of a long shot / hassle but if you were able to, then you can get equipment ect a lot cheaper.

I'll keep my eyes open for anything else that might be helpfull.

Dru,

Continuum does have a point. Check the IRS website for the Section 501(c)(3) organization requirements. Being a non-profit enity does have it's perks...........

Havn't seen any sposorship stuff from these but since UT2007 will support PhysX cards why not try AGEIA or ASUS (I think those are the only 2 companies that offer PhysX as of right now).

I do not know of any companies that are looking to SPONSER this kind of organization (im not sure what kind of organization it is at the molment).

I would be willing to chip in and help with new equipment, but these are high budget items and my personal contrabutions would hardly make a dent.

You could try solicitation of the major manufacturers. You never know, luck, and timing could make quite a difference.

well there has been alot of talk recently of companies looking to do in game advertisement. I don't know any specifically but I'm sure they are out there. If the server commands enough traffic you might be able to go in armed with the server stat info saying you get x amount of individual connections per month and in what areas/countries like the list ya posted int he other thread.

The down side of this would be that it would probally be a great amount of work for you to go and edit every map on the server to add the advertisements.

Then there's also the legal question of can you sell advertising space in game at all? only on your own maps? on all maps except for epic/Atari made?

On the other hand advertising space ont he website is always open to you but probally not quite as lucrative.

TheDruidXpawX wrote:

What we really need is 4 of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103573

Druid, I'm not sure how important the CPU speed is when you have that much raw power at your disposal, but if you were to go with the 2.2GHz chip instead of the 2.4GHz, you could save over 500 dollars (about $140 per chip) right there. Even more if you drop to the 1.8GHz.

I'm not into servers so I really don't know how much the CPU speed would affect it but it seems like 4x Dual Core opterons should be able to handle it.

And wow, a MoBo with a 32GB RAM capacity. I know people who don't even use that much space on their hard drives.

Druid, if you did a "hardware funding drive" I would definately throw in a few bucks. I think a lot of people would, too. I think a lot of people hold off on the regular donating because maybe they feel it's too much. But if you opened up an "every dollar counts" kind of thing, I think you'll be suprised!

Another idea - I know there are several graphically-oriented people on the server. How about a DC t-shirt? We could come up with a cool design and get it silk screened. Maybe a competition for the best design? Something mellow and cool, not geeky. I'd buy one. I'd pull out my old-skool art skills for the occasion!

Also, maybe try approaching logitech or funcpad for some sort of sponsorhsip. Their peripherals definately make a huge difference in my game, and they are gamer oriented. Code an Ad before each wave? Or a "this win sponsored by xyz"?

Or, for the more competitive minded of us, hold a couple tournaments! $10/20 buy in. one - on - one. Winner gets a reserved slot and a t-shirt (not to mention big-time bragging rights). I'd own up fools for the cause! I think you'd get a lot of taker for a DC tournament (logistics might be a pain, though).

320 wrote:

Druid, if you did a "hardware funding drive" I would definately throw in a few bucks. I think a lot of people would, too. I think a lot of people hold off on the regular donating because maybe they feel it's too much. But if you opened up an "every dollar counts" kind of thing, I think you'll be suprised!

Another idea - I know there are several graphically-oriented people on the server. How about a DC t-shirt? We could come up with a cool design and get it silk screened. Maybe a competition for the best design? Something mellow and cool, not geeky. I'd buy one. I'd pull out my old-skool art skills for the occasion!

Also, maybe try approaching logitech or funcpad for some sort of sponsorhsip. Their peripherals definately make a huge difference in my game, and they are gamer oriented. Code an Ad before each wave? Or a "this win sponsored by xyz"?

Or, for the more competitive minded of us, hold a couple tournaments! $10/20 buy in. one - on - one. Winner gets a reserved slot and a t-shirt (not to mention big-time bragging rights). I'd own up fools for the cause! I think you'd get a lot of taker for a DC tournament (logistics might be a pain, though).

good ideas, even if it doesn't add up to the amount needed, it would make things easier. i would be willing to put my hours into a tshirt design etc. not to sound like an economist but people put good deal of time into DC and i'm sure there would be a decent number of folks willing to do a few productive things for the server. as long as dru comes up with some way to be productive, i'm sure people will contribute with their times. (tshirt idea being a perfect example, a lot more could be found)

i think one problem is, assuming these are mainly for 2k7, how many players will be able to play the game in the month/months after its releasel; i'm guessing a small percentage. players are as important as the server hardware.