Planned downtime: OS upgrade

[loftar]

Excuse my ignorance, but could the lag be caused by hardware limitations (i.e. not enough RAM, etc)?

No, not really. In that regard, I think it speaks for itself that the increase in lag was caused by software changes, rather than hardware changes. ;)

That's not to exclude the possibility that hardware upgrades could alleviate the problem, however. For instance, more RAM would increase the amount of data fitting into the block cache and therefore alleviate the need for disk I/O, which may or may not fix the problem (though I don't really think so either, because the current block cache size should be more than enough as it is, I think). I can also conclude that the server that Salem is running on has far (far) better I/O than the Haven server has, but I'm not sure whether that's mainly a hardware issue or if it might be related to it not using md-RAID or LVM (that hosting company uses a SAN instead).

[ewlol]

If there was a game content update then I'm sure people would forget about the lag for the time being while you work at a solution.

[Saxony4]

Many people wrote that the lag is getting worse if more people are online and better if fewer are playing. I can't agree to that. I'm playing nearly 12 hours now (because I can be very patient if I really enjoy something ) and I checked how many are online very often during that (while lags occur, for example. What else to do then.). I guess many of you are doing the same, and that is why I wonder that people keep saying it's getting worse the more players are online. It doesn't. To me, it looks like the lags are totally random. But I like the idea that Ragthur had, it would be nice to have the problem that easily solved.

Btw I feckin' love this game, otherwise I wouldn't stay up all night playing it like 4 days in a row. Never have played something that is that addicting.

Welcome to HnH, remember, you're here for life.

[zmurrell]

hmm couldnt you just replicate the salem servers or like try to get the same set up as they have?

[dagrimreefah]

hmm couldnt you just replicate the salem servers or like try to get the same set up as they have?

I'm sure that costs BIG money

[Dill]

hmm couldnt you just replicate the salem servers or like try to get the same set up as they have?

Heres the problem.

They get paid to work on salem.

They dont get paid to work on hnh.

[zmurrell]

i could pitch in some of dat money

[misspoop]

Welcome to HnH, remember, you're here for life.

As long as the server keeps being online, but I know, you are right.
As soon as Salem releases I will have to improve my multitasking-skills to a much higher level. And I guess I'll have to find a job where I do not have to leave the computer for. Oh, and I guess I will have to find a way to live without eating and stuff anymore.

[loftar]

hmm couldnt you just replicate the salem servers or like try to get the same set up as they have?

Well, for one thing, I don't really have the time to set up a whole new server, unfortunately.

However, those servers are not without their own problems, either. There is something weird about the CPU usage on them which I suspect (but am not sure) might be related to them being virtual machines. For instance, that server would not have the CPU capacity to allow 1500 players to play at once, as the Haven server has done at times.

[sabinati]

I love all the absolutely clueless thoughts and suggestions about the lag in this thread, even in spite of me having stated the actual reasons multiple times.

Either way, it's not as if I completely lack any entry into trying to solve the problem. For instance, I will be looking into LatencyTOP and/or see if anything can be seen using SystemTap. However, there's no way I can know for sure beforehand that either way will actually lead to any further insights.

well at least you guys are doing something :p

if there's one thing loftar does, it's something.