Server core OS question.

[ZAR094]

Hello, so I have a question about what OS to run on my server core. It is a dell PowerEdge T430 I got from a friend. I am planning to use it as a gaming server for Arma or Gary's mod. I am brand new to the server core world, and could really use some advice. I am good on the hardware side of PC's (Builds, upgrades etc.) But I am kind of a noob when it comes to the software side. Thank you in advance!

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to Servers and NAS

[Loki0111]

Given you want to run an Arma dedicated gaming server on it I'd stick with something Windows based. Be aware the Arma dedicated server needs a lot of RAM.

 

I believe the Arma 3 dedicated server can also be installed under Linux but that is not a trivial task if you are unfamiliar with Linux.

 

Either Windows 10 Pro or Windows Server 2016/2019.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Id put a hypervisoron the hardware, then fire up vms for the different tasks you want. Makes it easier to maange, and you can easily run multiple oses at a time.

[MattJenko]

Install Proxmox, then run VM's to do what you want. You can install a Windows VM if the software you're after prefers that, but most servers are written for Linux as it's by far the most widely installed server OS in the world (ie. what virtually every server hosting provider out there will be running, including Microsoft Azure).

If you're not comfortable with linux, that might be a tall order. The main advantage is memory, as in a basic linux server doesn't use much of it (my Ubuntu server VM only uses like 120MB or so on a clean install). You can install Arma servers in docker containers if that's something you're interested in. You can probably do this on Windows too using WSL and/or Docker Desktop and make them portable.

Docker versions will be simple to install, but might need some configuring for mods or whatever, depending on how the docker image is set up. See here for an example for Arma (not recommending it, just the first one I found with decent readme): https://github.com/adamveld12/arma3server

 

A docker container or VM just makes some things simpler because you can have each server in it's own space without conflicts (except ports, that's unavoidable), easily back them up, etc. I run a network of Minecraft servers for my kids and their friends using this type of setup.