Server Hosting

I'm not sure where to go for this as I'm not actually asking for help but rather advice. I want the best for my server but I also need the server host to be affordable. I've been looking at https://www.digitalocean.com/ mostly because they host for five dollars a month it seems, but I'm not sure if I can trust them or if they're really good as they say they are (or if I can even host a bukkit server on it).

Are there any better options than digitalocean?

 

I use http://exodushosting.net/ and its 5 dollars a month for a half gig server, and it is GREAT hosting, their support is amazing, and the server is very, very fast

 

In my experience with minecraft hosting you get what you pay for. However, you can ask the host a few questions to find out what kind of hardware and virtualization they use to get a better idea of the quality you might get.

What is your price range?

 

Up to $30 is what I can afford (for now). I was also just recently showed this one: http://mcprohosting.com It looks interesting enough. Though another thing I'm looking at is a server host that won't mind hosting 24/7, if it's even possible for the price range. Do server hosts even do that?

 

All hosts offer 24/7 hosting with the exception of occasional maintenance.

How many gigs of ram do you need? Forgot to ask in first post.

 

Ah. That's brilliant then. Good to know.

As for ram, my current computer has 8GB. The server runs okay for a couple of hours before I start getting warnings on how the server can't keep up and unless I save and stop the server, it crashes and we lose what we did. So I have a feeling I need more ram than what I have. I just don't know how much. I have a lot of plugins as well, and I want at least 25 to 30 people to be able to get on at once. Not sure if that should be included in the calculations.

I'm really bad at calculating ram, as you can most likely tell.

 

Okay, well the difference in environment will make a big difference for your ram/cpu requirements. You probably won't find an 8GB server for less than $30.

Unfortunately, because you are moving from what I assume is GUI OS, the best you can do is get a server in your price range with as many resources as you think you will need and start testing it. This is pretty much the process with any new Minecraft server. If you were already familiar with the resource requirements of your server it might be easier to ballpark your RAM. However, if you are moving from a GUI based OS to what will be a server OS your requirements will be different.

Only you will be able to diagnose the requirements of your system because you are the only person who knows all the features/plugins enabled on your server.

With that said, I would hate to leave you with nothing so I'll give you a list of server providers which I have personally used and liked.

Beastnode: Quality shared hosting. Among other's in the shared hosting business they have been the best I have used.

CubedHost: Also shared hosting and I never had an issue with the server.

AllGamer: VPS hosting. Best VPS hosting I have used. If you want access to the OS shell you will want to get a VPS. Xen VPS is my preference due to the increased difficulty providers have in overselling Xen. Google Xen vs OpenVZ to find out more.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

DokuProductions - Pick a company that looks good and ask questions. Once you've done that choose one to go with and see how they do. No two businesses are exactly the same and each one will cater to their niche.

 

I have 8GB ram for 23 Eur/month @ http://netcup.de/ , so yeah. It's just that they're German, and only give support in German (although they also did reply in English sometimes.)

 

Lolmewn - 8GB is what I have and that's not enough on my comp, apparently.

Clinton - That's what I'm planning to do. I'm a little on edge though about buying things online and I'm not sure who can be trusted or not, which is why I had been asking what hosts others used and trusted.

Onionbro - Beastnode looks like a good one. I'm leaning towards the cow setup.

 

Your saying your comp with 8Gb/5Gbish usable is not enough RAM, but then you say you will buy the Beastnode package with 768Mb, which is less than 1Gb.

 

rguz10 It is? All right, I'm confused and don't know what to get for my server now.

 

DokuProductions Can you have a port? You can go to minecrafted.net, buy the 5GB package for $25 a MO and you should be good. Or pay the extra 5 bucks for a dedicated Ip.

 

rguz10 Yes, I have a port. But it's not all that reliable as it tends to reset itself and I lose connection constantly from it.

 

You want a dedicated port and aim for 2gb RAM to start with, remove any RAM intensive plugins, and work your way up.

 

tanveergt5 How do I know which plugins are RAM intensive? I pretty much need all of my plugins that I have now for my server, as it helps it run like an MMORPG which is what my server is about.

 

what plugins do you have?

 

tanveergt5: These are all the plugins that I have (name of the jar files / folders):

AsknElevators
Blood
BOSEconomy
Chairs
Essentials
FriendProtect
GrapplingHook
IceSkates
JukeLoop
KnockKnock
Lifestones
ModernWeapons
MoneyDrop
MoveCraft
PermissionsBukkit
ProtocolLib
S86 Powers
Shelfit
SignShop
TimeFold
Vault
VipPriorityPlugin
WorldEdit
WorldGuard

 

Yeah I can safely say you can run on 4gb RAM make sure to have something like ClearLagg, server and desktop RAM's are different so try 1 month with a good server host, and see how it goes.

Edit: even 2gb RAM is possible cuirrently

 

What's ClearLagg and where can I find it? Also, all of the server hosts seem to list RAM with MB and not GB, so I can't tell what 4GB or 2GB of ram is on their sites.

 

Use minecrafted.net They are cheap and very fast.

 

rguz10

Okay, so I have it but now I have no idea how to use Multicraft to upload my already created server.

 

Get a FTP client such as FileZilla. The search around the panel till you find your FTP information. Then enter that in FileZilla. From there upload all the proper directories. And BOOM. You have a lag free server. I can help more if needed.

 

Please do! This is the first time I've ever used a server host so I'm pretty lost. And where do I find FileZilla? Can macs use it?

Wait, I use Multicraft. My purchase came with it. It says it's a Minecraft FTP client. But it comes with a bunch of files that I don't even know what to do with.

EDIT by Moderator: merged posts, please use the edit button instead of double posting.

 

It has FTP access to your server in the webpanel (although I don't really like Multicraft. I'd much rather Filezilla+PuTTy)

 

Lolmewn I know it does but the problem is I don't know how to use it because it has a bunch of files there already and it looks like they're all PC files which tells me it's running on a PC and now I'm stuck and don't know what to do.

 

Could you screenshot it? Did you read readme's? Wiki's?

 

I can't find any readme's or wikis on this.

Here's what the FTP thing looks like:


It looks nothing like the one on my computer and I'm not sure if it's because the one on my computer is for macs or if it's because the server host needs these files to run. Or a combination of both.

Here's what I see on my mac:


EDIT by Moderator: merged posts, please use the edit button instead of double posting.

 

verygames.co.uk is good for the price

 

I will get on my moms Mac soon and make a full tut. Give me like 1-24 Hr. Depending on some things. I will probably just make a new thread and link you to it.