Headless Linux Requirements

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adam_bise
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Headless Linux Requirements

Post by adam_bise »

What kind of system would I need to run a headless server on Linux? I couldn't find a requirements spec.
How much ram, cpu, etc.. Could it run on something as small as a Pi with save file stored on CIFS?

Thanks!

Loewchen
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Re: Headless Linux Requirements

Post by Loewchen »

You need a two core 64bit x86 processor with 1GB RAM to run it, but in the end the hardware you need depends on how big you want to build.

adam_bise
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Re: Headless Linux Requirements

Post by adam_bise »

Thanks Loewchen.

Would this be sufficient for 4-8 players on a moderately big map?

Intel NUC BOXNUC7CJYH1
Intel Celeron processor J4005
4GB DDR4 2400

Either a 120GB SATA SSD or 16GB USB3 flash.

Also, concerning autosave times.. Is it more CPU intensive or HDD?

Loewchen
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Re: Headless Linux Requirements

Post by Loewchen »

adam_bise wrote:Would this be sufficient for 4-8 players on a moderately big map?

Intel NUC BOXNUC7CJYH1
Intel Celeron processor J4005
In case of "will it run at all?", yes it will, but for any base beyond small it will run really slow, if you have it laying around go for it, but if you plan to buy it with the intend to make a factorio server, this is the worst machine for the job.
If you want a cheap server, get the cheapest 4-core i5 of the last 5 years that is not low voltage that you can find, it will run at least twice as fast.

Dergonic
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Re: Headless Linux Requirements

Post by Dergonic »

adam_bise wrote:Thanks Loewchen.

Would this be sufficient for 4-8 players on a moderately big map?

Intel NUC BOXNUC7CJYH1
Intel Celeron processor J4005
4GB DDR4 2400

Either a 120GB SATA SSD or 16GB USB3 flash.

Also, concerning autosave times.. Is it more CPU intensive or HDD?
I would say NO.
The more important in Factorio is CPU clock (Your's is 2GHz), RAM and network connection (UDP)

For any comparison, we are playing on a headless server which is this configuration :
- CPU 4 core @ 3.1GHz (only one core used for factorio server)
- 8Gb ram
- 100Gb HDD
- 100Mb up/down internet

We are only 3 player playing in the server and have a 80h map in with some mods (this is a Seablock server and previously we had a normal game with 5Dims suite)
Our CPU is 100% in one core. From time to time, we have ingame lags.
Our ram used is just over 4.5Gb
Our map (the zip file in saves folder) is 40Mb large each (I'm running an auto-backup every 30 min and keep 50 of them)


Relating your question :
- Factorio is highly CPU intensive on one unique core
- Saves are not intensive. A30Mb save is done in about 5-10sec
- depending to the number of player connected, Network could be intensive (count about 10-50kBpS per player in game mode. Login is more intensive-Download of the full map at each connection)

Zavian
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Re: Headless Linux Requirements

Post by Zavian »

Dergonic wrote:The more important in Factorio is CPU clock (Your's is 2GHz), RAM and network connection (UDP)
Well that is a little simplistic. What matters in cpu performance is instructions processed per second, which is given by cpu clock rate multiplied by average instructions per clock (ipc). So whilst high clock maximum rates are important for cpu performance, you also want a decent ipc. I'm not sure about that processor, but historically celerons were made as cheap processors, and as part of cutting production costs, they also tended to have low ipcs than i5 and i7 cpus. (I'm not sure about the current generation AMD processors, but historically intel has gotten more instructions per clock from their cpu designs, and AMD has tried to compete in performance by using higher clock rates. Often a slightly slower clocked Intel cpu will actually beat a faster clocked AMD cpu. So simply getting the "highest clock rate" without considering ipc can be a little simplistic).

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Re: Headless Linux Requirements

Post by adam_bise »

Thank you for the replies. CPU performance needs will be much higher than I thought it seems.

I've decided on a Pentium G5600, as I think this is the best value for single core performance, while having 2 cores for system processes. Since this will be a dedicated box, I don't think more then 2 cores would make much difference.

Based on Dergonic's RAM usage, I think 2x4GB DDR4 2400 would be the best bet.

The G5600 single thread benchmark scores almost as good as an I5-8400 at almost half the cost and slightly less power.

Zavian is right, I go by benchmarks and not just CPU clock speed. A 4Ghz Pentium 4 is literally 100 times slower than a 3.7Ghz 8700k

Thanks for the info!

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