How many players can my server handle?

Hello! I have my own server hosted on my laptop. What I'm curious to know is how many people my server can handle.

It runs Bukkit #1337 with the following plugins:
ChatManager
Essentials
FalseBook
HawkEye
LWC
NoLagg
PermissionsEx
WorldEdit
WorldGuard
WorldWarp

And this is my system:
Processor: Intel i3-330M (2,13 GHz, 3M Cache, Dual Core, HT)
RAM: 4 GB (1280 MB allocated for the server)
Harddrive: Seagate 5400rpm
Download speed: 10 Mbit/s
Upload speed: 12 Mbit/s

Anything more you need to know?

 

Keep in mind you are running this on a laptop, most likely to be running Windoze (XP, Vista, or 7). So right off the bat, you are going to be running into performance issues, as it is a desktop operating system, not a server operating system. To seriously host a server look at Windows Server 2008 R2 or even better Linux.

But if this is for up to-I would say 7-friends, I think you should do OK. I have a general rule of thumb, that a server should be allocated 75-100MB of RAM per player. You could get away with a few more slots if your computer had a faster HDD (either 7200RPM, or RAID 0)

If this is the computer that you are going to run your client on as well, then, drop the 7 to 5, as your computer will be straining under the load.

I remember running a test server, this is on Debian Linux x64 with 12GB of RAM, on a computer with 2 10,000 RPM drives in RAID 0,a and Intel Core i7-990x and we stuffed close to 160 people on it. With little lag. But that was really pushing the hardware to its limits.

tl;dr 5-7 people would be good for what you are doing

 

eh, i bet he can fit few more, although i wouldnt recommend using a laptop to run the server, performance issues along with heating issues, making your laptop under constant usage,

 

I'd say 5-8 players. BTW, never host on a Laptop. No matter how good they are, they aren't good for hosting. BUT, I'm not forcing you to go out and buy a expensive Desktop. I'm just saying that laptops aren't good for hosting. Also, DO NOT host using WIRELESS. It can usually timeout players and cause lagging. Use Ethernet when you are going to host.

 

If you are using your laptop to host the server make sure you remove the battery and run it on mains power. Also make sure it's on a hard, flat surface as it's going to generate a LOT of heat and your vents need to be 100% efficient.

 

I don't use wireless, and I'll get a desktop as soon as I can afford one.
The max temperature of my CPU after running the server nonstop for several days was 82 degrees celsius, which is 8 degrees less than the max it can handle.

 

you might want to take it apart, clean the vent(s)/fan(s), take the heatsink of the cpu and gpu and use better thermal compound to get as low as a temperature as possible, IMO 8C from max is not a good thing, you should be trying to keep it as low as possible

 

Often it's about 75 degrees when I have the client running too though. And the lowest measured temperature is 51 degrees, which is 39 from max.

 

are you playing minecraft along with running your server?

 

still, clean it out and re apply thermal compound (buy some good stuff, every C in the laptop will help longevity)