Pros/Cons of hosting a server on your own computer?

I currently rent a server, but I got to thinking that it might possibly be better to host my own server instead. Now, I don't have a couple hundred bucks to spend on building my own server, so what would be the Pros/Cons of hosting a server on my computer? Would it damage any of the hardware because of having it on too long?
Computer specs:
Ubuntu 10.04 64 bit
4 gigs of RAM (upgrading to 8-12 soon)
Getting SATA drives soon
nVidia GTX 460 (wondering if this would be harmed)
AMD Phenom II 955 Quad-Core

Meh, not the greatest, but what would be good and bad about hosting a server on my computer, and would it be better or worse than having one hosted for me?

 

Whats your upload and download speed? Thats usually the limiting factor in being able to run a server from your home computer.

 

Depends on your internet line.

www.speedtest.net

Specs are fine, your 460 would be harmed if you had it running Furmark in the background with the fan turned off.

 

On speedtest.net I got a 33 ms ping, 5.71 mbps download, and 1.35 upload. Did I epic fail?

 

depends how many people are playing at once

 

The host you currently rent from will always be better than what you can do off your computer; unless you are willing to spend a lot of money (can be over $1,000) for a custom-built one with great specs and a great internet line.

Look at your download/upload specs- under 6mbps. The host I rent my VPS from has an upload/download speed of 98-100/mbps. And 4GB RAM would work fine for like, 4 people (6 on a good day)?

Just a note, to my knowledge, your graphics card won't affect the way people play on your server, as it's really only used for what you see.

You still could, but I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for a more professional server and want a large player base- but could work out for a few friends, etc. Also, no damage should be done, though it's not best on a computer to run it 24/7; just make sure it's cooled properly.

One last thing, it probally won't work out too well if you're also wanting to use this as your main computer and actually play on it at the same time (unless, as said before, it's just for a few people) as you want to donate as much memory and stuff to running the server.

Good luck!

 

I don't believe that all these stats are true, I have and still have run a backup server on my fading laptop that's monitor is broken on Arch linux with specs of 1gb ram and a amd 3000+ single proc server with 50mbit/down 25mbit/up with 10+ people with a lot of bukkit plugins without any problem at all. Not to mention running a web server on it as well.

 

Also, the issues of leaving your computer on 24/7.

 

I have been running a server off of my computer its a amd dual core 3.0, 6 gigs of 1333 ddr3 with a 15dl/1.5up net and with about 11 people on it didn't stutter, most of the lag that did happen was from the fact that I had some plugin issues that collided with performance, and I was using it as my main lol, other than that it works fine, just its better to make a dedicated computer...it doesn't cost thousands...I priced one out at about 350, and thats with basically processor like yours and 16 gigs of ram, getting net speed at better rate is the only thing you can't get that they off but really you don't need more than 1.5 mbs I watched my net and each player used like 10kbs, with spikes to 50-60kbs that with all of them moving around alot

edit: windows 7 btw

 

I run a server off my laptop. (4GB RAM, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz, 500GB HDD)
I get 22Mbps down, 4Mbps up. I get a daily traffic of about 10 people at its peak, (including myself,) and there's absolutely no lag for me or my friends (that is server sided, in the least).

 

You must have a horrible host....I run a server off my home connection which uses a Quad Core / 4 Gigs of Ram and my max upload speed is 5Mbps and Ive hosted 25 people easy lag free

 

I calculated the electricity costs of running a similar computer 24/7 per month, and it was in the 30 dollar range. For the same price, you can get a server, with a better connection and tech support.

The cost greatly depends on the wattage of your PSU. Mine was only a 550 watt. If yours is even more powerful (I suspect it is), you will be looking at 40+/month. Electricity is expensive, and getting more expensive each year.

 

I can host about 12 people on a gig of ram, but I am also running a server version of ubuntu.

Also, your computer will not be consuming the full wattage 24/7. On the flipside the psu supplies the computer with that much watage. Most stock psus have about 50%ish efficency rating, so if your computer is drawing a well 550 wats, it is pulling 1100 watts from the wall. The best way to monitor energy useage is to get a plugin watt meter for your outlet.

Side tangent. I wonder how well hosting a server would work on a dual core ARM, like a pandaboard.

 

The efficiency rating is usually an "idle load" efficiency, which with a server, even with no one online, will not be an idle load. Expect your electrical bill to spike.

 

Oh dang. Mine is a 600 or 650 watt, I can't remember which. Thanks for the info everybody.

 

I never said anything about how many players my server holds- I can get in quite a handful though (like 40?) if I need. The 4GB ram was referring to his computer and specs.

 

Hosting a server on your own PC is nowhere near as difficult, slow, or inefficient as people make it out to be, as long as you have a halfway decent machine. The specs for my server are:

Core i7-920 at 3.8GHz
12GB DDR3 SDRAM
Corsair Force F120 SSD for the server software and map, 1TB 7200RPM Seagate barracuda for MySQL database.
Comcast home internet, 25 down and 5 up

Right now I am running Craftbukkit 684 with 43 plugins, several of which use MySQL for their databases. The map is 10,000 x 10,000 blocks square, and mobs are enabled.

With this setup, I can hold about 16 people virtually lag free, even when I have the client running on the same machine. Sometimes I will also have other programs open, such as MCMap or Firefox. Nobody ever notices this, because the CPU is powerful enough to handle all of this at once. Once I upgrade my internet to 50 down and 10 up I will be able to host around 25-30 people, which is my personal sweet spot for amount players online. Big enough to have a good level of activity, but not so huge that things become depersonalized or difficult to manage. I have no interest in running a massive server, so the greater bandwidth of a datacenter server is not an important factor for me.

Renting a machine this powerful from a datacenter would be prohibitively expensive, much more than the cost of my monthly electric and internet bill. Plus, I just hate dealing with datacenters in general. They would make the shadiest used car salesman in the world blush with embarrassment. Never had a good experience with one, ever. Much better to have your server in your house where you can have full access to it, tweak it the way you want, and have instant access to the machine itself in case of problems.

Of course, if your machine sucks, or you can't get access to an acceptable internet connection, or are looking to eventually have a server with 100+ people online at once, then I can see the necessity for renting a server from a datacenter. Otherwise, I find it much easier and more productive to run the server from my home.

 

Mind you, if you have a half decent power supply then the efficiency should be much closer to 80% then 50%, so depending on where/how you bought your computer its not as bad.

 

I don't trust datacenters or shit, i rather build my own and have full control over it myself. And that's what i've done, worked good so far.
Cheaper as well, at least for me.

 

You're computer NEVER draws the maximum amount of energy from youre PSU, if you're only hosting the server at that moment and nothing else, you'll probably use 100-150 Watt.

 

Yeah, a PSU's rating is its potential load capacity. If you run a barebones low-speed i5 on a 1200w PSU it's not going to force the extra current into the system.

 

100-150 watt? Did you even read the specs on the OP? The motherboard would use that much alone. Add a Nvidia GPU (which are widely known to be power hogs), and a that CPU, and you've got a power hungry machine. I'd be surprised to see less than 300 watts idle, and I expect it would go to full draw once the CPU's > 20% used.

The efficiency ratings on PSU's are like the battery life spec's on laptops. Outlandish lies even in best-case scenarios. Why do you think all the big server farms get built in remote places, right next to power plants?