O think some ppl just leave their computers on. Others pay server hosting sites to host the server 24/7 for them.

are there any free hosting sites?

PLEASE VISIT MY SERVER Calgary X (my server is running FLMA 1.1 please do not try to log on without it activated usual server hours since i cant be on all day and night are as follows, 8am-7pm thanks and dont foget to log onto my server!

Good luck w/ that one.

There's good money to be made by hosting sites/servers for people, so "free hosting" of a game server has about as much chance of existing as a duck has a chance of actually drowning in a puddle....

The cheapest hosting you'll find for your gameserver is to find a company that will actually physically take your game computer and plug it into their network under their roof. I haven't checked prices lately, but I don't think that's all that cheap, as monthly fees go.

Of course, the other option is to leave your computer on all the time. That's much cheaper : ) Most people don't have the bandwidth to host more than a few players, though...

well then, could u help me look for a server running FLMA1.1 so i can just disconfigure mine and spend mindless hours trolling around on someone else's server like i used to?

PLEASE VISIT MY SERVER Calgary X (my server is running FLMA 1.1 please do not try to log on without it activated usual server hours since i cant be on all day and night are as follows, 8am-7pm thanks and dont foget to log onto my server!

Just leave your computer on, it's not going to hurt it.

If your computer can't handle being left on, then it can't handle running a server, lol

Actually turning your computer on and off is harder on it than leaving it on all the time. Mine runs 24/7 and has for years, although I upgrade fairly often.
As for a full time server I saw an add for a place that hosts game servers for about $100 a month. I thought that was pretty cheap.

Ne frustra vixisse videar

Actually there's a "huge" controversy on what hurts a computer more... turning it off and on or leaving it on all the time.

It's more a matter of opinion right now really... I personally think leaving it on is better... if you're using *nix or Win2k/XP... Me/9x suck to leave on because they'll eventually crash out.

I also think that it would be harder booting up and shutting down all the time because it just requires the harddrive to work more than just leaving it on... but like I said, it's all opinion

I've got old computers that have been running for a long time and it hasn't hurt them one bit.

Servers run constantly, sometimes for year on end. I think the inrush effect when turning on a computer is the most damaging thing. The motherboard is DC and pretty delicate in the grand scheme of things.

Ne frustra vixisse videar

Also, be sure to download FLAdmin (look in the Downloads page). Great tool for admins.

To run a 24/7 server you ermm. umm. well, need a machine which is on 24/7!

Some people are running 24/7 server across Cable/DSL connections and leaving their machines on all the time. Most of the bigger servers are sittiing on leased lines, probably on dedicated/co-location facilities provided by hosting companies or university/company data centres.

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>bRydeR<

Hardrives depend on air cushion effect to keep the heads from coming in contact with the disk, but the disk is still a mechanical device on bearings spinning from 5,000 to 30,000 RPM, and like any mechanism it will wear out.
Charging capacitors is the reason for the initial current surge when powering up, however the switching mode power supply is designed to handle that.
The average PC, a turn-key unit especially, was not designed to run continuously. If you do plan on running one 24/7, first and foremost think TEMPERATURE CONTROL, VENTILATION, a large case, a good power supply, and lots of fans to increase the amount of airflow through the case, across the chipset, the video card, the ram, the drives, and especially the processor.
Heat and semiconductors are a bad combination.

$100 a game server is not cheap. Cheap is $10 a month

Actually mindleak and Holliday are closer to the truth, Doc. MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) on a hard drive is 100,000 hrs so spinning mechanical failure is minimal. As you say the head is suspended from the spinning disk by the cushion of air from the spinning disk. This doesn't exist when the hard drive isn't on and thus is more susceptable to shock damage, especially if you do not shutdown your OS properly .

Capacitors in the power supply can handle the inrush, yes. But this is different from a turn on condition where the caps go from nothing to full capacity and this is EVERYWHERE there is voltage applied to a discharged capacitor. This quick, full range charge is what minutely stresses the caps. Caps in switching power supplies operate over a fraction (<20%) of their full capacity time when working normally (up to full load). Other caps for surge supression DO operate to full design voltage and/or charge ranges but then surges are not a normal occurance, only in bad power sources and during turn on .

Doc has an excellent point for cooling though. Since most fans don't have dust filters it becomes important to clean whatever they are blowing on, especially a heatsink. Over time as the heatsink fins get more clogged with dust your CPU runs hotter. As a rule of thumb I never run a CPU over 60C, otherwise I buy a bigger heatsink. Also as Doc mentioned lots of fans help, I have seven fans in my main system so lots of air is moving around (no it's not that loud, that's why I have lots of small, quiet fans). If you run your 'puter continuously with unfiltered fans, regular maintenance is a must.

I'm sure y'all will let me know if I was wrong about something.

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{RN}Earendil
SysAdmin of Boston Freelancer server {RN}