Central Server Build

[gibbsy81]

Hello all,

So I am wondering would it be possible to setup a powerful server where clients connect to and use the power of the server to do things like play games render video and other demanding tasks.

Or would i have to setup virtual machines and have the clients rdp into them then do things like play games on them.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this. 

[whipcreambeast]

Virtual Machines are much more flexible, you can VM a machine across a cluster with mean MOAR POWER.
And load balancing can be done which is pretty sweet.

 

Also most stream are done using a app that has inputs and a video feed, and the experience depends on the bandwidth and latency

[Syntaxvgm]

Playing games and gpu rendering, no not easy with VMs as far as I know.

Otherwise a great option, and the management is very easy.

An example of what you can do is make a render farm

For example:

If you are rending a video in Maya or something under certain circumstances, Maya would split the load to all of the machines, sending a few frames at a time per machine, potentially making your render on the order of tens or hundreds of times faster. Most of those loads are CPU bound.

It really depends on the task. For GPU farms, idk exactly. I've never set one up, and IDK if it is possible to reliably give a virtual machine direct and full access to a GPU

[gibbsy81]

Thanks for your replies would this machine do the job for 5 users.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Riverbed-Steelhead-3UAAA-AMD-Opteron-2-4GHz-6GB-RAM-6x-250GB-SATA-Hard-Drives-/350971871953?pt=AU_Servers&hash=item51b78dc2d1

[Atlantisman]

RDP is not a suitable protocol to play games over really... 

[gibbsy81]

RDP is not a suitable protocol to play games over really...

What would you suggest

[Eniqmatic]

Citrix sounds like what your looking for, although you will need some serious GPU power to do so with 5 connected users. Your talking serious money to do this, you would need Nvidia GRID cards to do this kind of thing over Citrix or similar, which aren't cheap..

[dalekphalm]

What would you suggest

If you want to play games on a client PC and have the game rendered elsewhere, there's really only two options:

 

1. Steam In Home Streaming

2. NVIDIA Game Stream

 

In either case, your host machine will need to be a high-end gaming rig (Well it can be any kind of computer, but you will get better performance, with the higher end rigs). NVIDIA Game Stream obviously requires an NVIDIA GPU, but Steam streaming works with either GPU brand.

 

Additionally, you'll only be able to have ONE user Game Streaming at a time, regardless of Steam vs NVIDIA.

 

You could try building a super powerful server with multiple GPU's, but it will be very very expensive, very complicated, and very prone to problems. Performance will also likely be shit no matter what you do here.

 

For 5 simultaneous users doing OTHER kinds of work, VM's on a decently powerful server can work nicely.

[dalekphalm]

Citrix sounds like what your looking for, although you will need some serious GPU power to do so with 5 connected users. Your talking serious money to do this, you would need Nvidia GRID cards to do this kind of thing over Citrix or similar, which aren't cheap..

True, you could actually build your own NVIDIA GRID Server/Cluster, but I don't even know what the requirements would be. It would also cost thousands of dollars. Is the software for that even available to consumers?

[Eniqmatic]

True, you could actually build your own NVIDIA GRID Server/Cluster, but I don't even know what the requirements would be. It would also cost thousands of dollars. Is the software for that even available to consumers?

Precisely my point, serious money 

 

I have the advantage of getting to work with these kind of things, however for a consumer in this situation it's just not viable.

[MrSuperb]

Thanks for your replies would this machine do the job for 5 users.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Riverbed-Steelhead-3UAAA-AMD-Opteron-2-4GHz-6GB-RAM-6x-250GB-SATA-Hard-Drives-/350971871953?pt=AU_Servers&hash=item51b78dc2d1

 

That is a superold Server with two single core CPUs from 2004 and no dedicated CPU.

[dalekphalm]

That is a superold Server with two single core CPUs from 2004 and no dedicated CPU.

Yep, @gibbsy81 the CPU's in that server are Opteron 250's. That's literally a 10-year old CPU. It's Socket 940, which means it's from the "Athlon 64" era, K8 architecture.

 

These things are ancient and will be slow for pretty much anything but a file server. DEFINITELY not suitable for multiple clients using Server Side applications. That server also seems a bit of a ripoff. You should be able to find one with Core 2 Quad era Xeons for a similar price, perhaps with less HDD's.

 

Keep in mind, any server you find on eBay, is gonna cost a crap-load to ship anywhere, so make sure to find one as close to your location as possible to save on shipping. You may also want to seriously increase your budget, or even build your own server using desktop grade components.

[MrSuperb]

If you want 5 users playing a game simultaneously on a server, you pretty much also need 5x the hardware you would need to run it on dedicated machines.