Second Life Forums Archive - Simulators and Servers, Get your own...this one's MINE and I'm not sharing!

MadamG Zagato

means business

Join date: 17 Sep 2005

Posts: 1,402

12-03-2007 20:00

I am sure that this core topic has been discussed previously, but it begs revisiting. How many sims are on a server? I think it was established that sims share servers? Please correct me if I am wrong.

So has anyone had any experience with successfully buying X amount of islands and having LL confirm that they will all be placed on the same "dedicated" server? I mean if only so many islands can go on a server, and you don't want to share...can you say "I want to buy 3 islands and I want them all on the same server please."

Are there any technical specifications that would prevent them from fulfilling this request?

For instance, (just a hypothetical example here) - they cannot put more than one island for one owner on a server because the names are used as primary keys and it would conflict with various functions of the server and the islands on it. (I know...far fetched, but you get my point.)

I just wondered if anyone thought about, asked about, or successfully did this and how it worked out.

Thanks,
~Maddy

Atashi Toshihiko

Frequently Befuddled

Join date: 7 Dec 2006

Posts: 1,423

12-03-2007 20:04

my understanding is that there is one region/island/sim per CPU core.

The class 5 servers are dual-cpu dual-core, meaning there are four CPU cores per machine, so therefore there are four region/island/sims per server.

The class 4 servers, as I understand it, were dual cpu but not dual core, so there were only two island/region/sims per server.

I might be wrong, but this is how I understand things based on what I've read here and in the KB and Wiki.

-Atashi

_____________________

Visit Atashi's Art and Oddities Store and the Waikiti Motor Works at beautiful Waikiti.

Ceera Murakami

Texture Artist / Builder

Join date: 9 Sep 2005

Posts: 7,750

12-03-2007 20:05

4 sims per server, assuming that all are quad-core servers. I think the class 3 servers were the last that wee dual core.

If they are OpenSpaces sims, they remain clustered together on the same server, I believe.

Normally, you would not WANT them to restrict you to the same piece of hardware, so long as you are restricted to the same CLASS of hardware. I mean, if your Class 5 sim goes down, and there are 20 spare Class 5 sims at your colocation center, wouldn't you rather keep your sim up, instead fo being down for days while they fix your server?

_____________________

Sorry, LL won't let me tell you where I sell my textures and where I offer my services as a sim builder. Ask me in-world.

MadamG Zagato

means business

Join date: 17 Sep 2005

Posts: 1,402

12-03-2007 20:14

From: Ceera Murakami

Normally, you would not WANT them to restrict you to the same piece of hardware, so long as you are restricted to teh same CLASS of hardware. I mean, if your Class 5 sim goes down, and there are 20 spare Class 5 sims at your colocation center, wouldn't you rather keep your sim up, instead fo being down for days while they fix your server?

I was just thinking that lol.

But I just wondered in general if it were possible or had been done...and of course there are the negative impacts to most ideas which you just explained.

I really appreciate your responses. Now I don't have to go to around wondering.

Sindy Tsure

Will script for shoes

Join date: 18 Sep 2006

Posts: 4,103

12-03-2007 20:26

Both class 4 and class 5 servers are twin, dual-core systems - 4 sims per server.

http://blog.secondlife.com/2006/10/16/looking-forward-to-class-5/

From: Ian Linden

...So, here’s what’s different under the hood: we’ve been all-AMD for years, but are moving from the Opteron 270 to the Intel Xeon 5148 - a low-power version of Intel’s new Core 2 Duo based server CPUs. This gives us better performance for fewer watts, while supporting our standard 64-bit OS image. We’ve also doubled the RAM per machine from 2GB to 4GB and moved to a faster SATA disk, which usually won’t make much of a difference, but should reduce the stalls sometimes seen by heavy regions during autosaves. Finally, there are fewer, bigger system fans, and power supply efficiency goes from 67% to 84%; power usage while running the sim process is about 175 watts, vs. 230 for a Class 4.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_8796_9240,00.html
http://www.intel.com/design/intarch/dualcorexeon/5100/index.htm

Charlene Trudeau

SkyBeam Architect

Join date: 23 Aug 2005

Posts: 318

12-03-2007 20:52

From: Ceera Murakami

If they are OpenSpaces sims, they remain clustered together on the same server, I believe.

Not true if neighbors.maxcase.info is correct. They grab the first available Open Space slot on any CPU that has one available just like the others do. I checked my Open Space regions there early on just to see the answer to that question and they all had different neighbors.

Char

_____________________

Charlene Trudeau
SkyBeam Estates
SkyBeam Architecture

Vittorio Beerbaum

Sexy.Builder Hot.Scripter

Join date: 16 May 2007

Posts: 516

12-04-2007 00:31

From: MadamG Zagato

So has anyone had any experience with successfully buying X amount of islands and having LL confirm that they will all be placed on the same "dedicated" server? I mean if only so many islands can go on a server, and you don't want to share...can you say "I want to buy 3 islands and I want them all on the same server please."

Madame, this is a grid and it works on "virtual servers". There's no "dedicated server" (even for different sim/owners), each simulator is infact "virtual" and when it comes up, it starts to run on the first core available on the grid, on a "random" phisical server of the assigned "class" (eg: class5). So, if a region goes down and restarts, the process will start again: a new "free core" is found and the SIM goes up again on a different hardware.
So it is impossible to be on the same server for all of your SIM's (well, if it doesn't happen for som "exotic" luck) because the hardware is "shared" (to optimize the number of available server per simulators). It's more a technical matter, than a decision: if they assign a "dedicated server", they would have potentially unused cores (eg: a region goes down, and it stay down > you gonna have 3 cores upon 4 available in use... and this is not optimal).

MadamG Zagato

means business

Join date: 17 Sep 2005

Posts: 1,402

12-04-2007 05:35

From: Vittorio Beerbaum

Madame, this is a grid and it works on "virtual servers". There's no "dedicated server" (even for different sim/owners), each simulator is infact "virtual" and when it comes up, it starts to run on the first core available on the grid, on a "random" phisical server of the assigned "class" (eg: class5). So, if a region goes down and restarts, the process will start again: a new "free core" is found and the SIM goes up again on a different hardware.
So it is impossible to be on the same server for all of your SIM's (well, if it doesn't happen for som "exotic" luck) because the hardware is "shared" (to optimize the number of available server per simulators). It's more a technical matter, than a decision: if they assign a "dedicated server", they would have potentially unused cores (eg: a region goes down, and it stay down > you gonna have 3 cores upon 4 available in use... and this is not optimal).

ok that explains it. I had no idea. That is actually very cool.
Thanks!

Simulators and Servers, Get your own...this one's MINE and I'm not sharing!
MadamG Zagato means business Join date: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 1,402	12-03-2007 20:00 I am sure that this core topic has been discussed previously, but it begs revisiting. How many sims are on a server? I think it was established that sims share servers? Please correct me if I am wrong. So has anyone had any experience with successfully buying X amount of islands and having LL confirm that they will all be placed on the same "dedicated" server? I mean if only so many islands can go on a server, and you don't want to share...can you say "I want to buy 3 islands and I want them all on the same server please." Are there any technical specifications that would prevent them from fulfilling this request? For instance, (just a hypothetical example here) - they cannot put more than one island for one owner on a server because the names are used as primary keys and it would conflict with various functions of the server and the islands on it. (I know...far fetched, but you get my point.) I just wondered if anyone thought about, asked about, or successfully did this and how it worked out. Thanks, ~Maddy
Atashi Toshihiko Frequently Befuddled Join date: 7 Dec 2006 Posts: 1,423	12-03-2007 20:04 my understanding is that there is one region/island/sim per CPU core. The class 5 servers are dual-cpu dual-core, meaning there are four CPU cores per machine, so therefore there are four region/island/sims per server. The class 4 servers, as I understand it, were dual cpu but not dual core, so there were only two island/region/sims per server. I might be wrong, but this is how I understand things based on what I've read here and in the KB and Wiki. -Atashi _____________________ Visit Atashi's Art and Oddities Store and the Waikiti Motor Works at beautiful Waikiti.
Ceera Murakami Texture Artist / Builder Join date: 9 Sep 2005 Posts: 7,750	12-03-2007 20:05 4 sims per server, assuming that all are quad-core servers. I think the class 3 servers were the last that wee dual core. If they are OpenSpaces sims, they remain clustered together on the same server, I believe. Normally, you would not WANT them to restrict you to the same piece of hardware, so long as you are restricted to the same CLASS of hardware. I mean, if your Class 5 sim goes down, and there are 20 spare Class 5 sims at your colocation center, wouldn't you rather keep your sim up, instead fo being down for days while they fix your server? _____________________ Sorry, LL won't let me tell you where I sell my textures and where I offer my services as a sim builder. Ask me in-world.
MadamG Zagato means business Join date: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 1,402	12-03-2007 20:14 From: Ceera Murakami Normally, you would not WANT them to restrict you to the same piece of hardware, so long as you are restricted to teh same CLASS of hardware. I mean, if your Class 5 sim goes down, and there are 20 spare Class 5 sims at your colocation center, wouldn't you rather keep your sim up, instead fo being down for days while they fix your server? I was just thinking that lol. But I just wondered in general if it were possible or had been done...and of course there are the negative impacts to most ideas which you just explained. I really appreciate your responses. Now I don't have to go to around wondering.
Sindy Tsure Will script for shoes Join date: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 4,103	12-03-2007 20:26 Both class 4 and class 5 servers are twin, dual-core systems - 4 sims per server. http://blog.secondlife.com/2006/10/16/looking-forward-to-class-5/ From: Ian Linden ...So, here’s what’s different under the hood: we’ve been all-AMD for years, but are moving from the Opteron 270 to the Intel Xeon 5148 - a low-power version of Intel’s new Core 2 Duo based server CPUs. This gives us better performance for fewer watts, while supporting our standard 64-bit OS image. We’ve also doubled the RAM per machine from 2GB to 4GB and moved to a faster SATA disk, which usually won’t make much of a difference, but should reduce the stalls sometimes seen by heavy regions during autosaves. Finally, there are fewer, bigger system fans, and power supply efficiency goes from 67% to 84%; power usage while running the sim process is about 175 watts, vs. 230 for a Class 4. http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_8796_9240,00.html http://www.intel.com/design/intarch/dualcorexeon/5100/index.htm
Charlene Trudeau SkyBeam Architect Join date: 23 Aug 2005 Posts: 318	12-03-2007 20:52 From: Ceera Murakami If they are OpenSpaces sims, they remain clustered together on the same server, I believe. Not true if neighbors.maxcase.info is correct. They grab the first available Open Space slot on any CPU that has one available just like the others do. I checked my Open Space regions there early on just to see the answer to that question and they all had different neighbors. Char _____________________ Charlene Trudeau SkyBeam Estates SkyBeam Architecture
Vittorio Beerbaum Sexy.Builder Hot.Scripter Join date: 16 May 2007 Posts: 516	12-04-2007 00:31 From: MadamG Zagato So has anyone had any experience with successfully buying X amount of islands and having LL confirm that they will all be placed on the same "dedicated" server? I mean if only so many islands can go on a server, and you don't want to share...can you say "I want to buy 3 islands and I want them all on the same server please." Madame, this is a grid and it works on "virtual servers". There's no "dedicated server" (even for different sim/owners), each simulator is infact "virtual" and when it comes up, it starts to run on the first core available on the grid, on a "random" phisical server of the assigned "class" (eg: class5). So, if a region goes down and restarts, the process will start again: a new "free core" is found and the SIM goes up again on a different hardware. So it is impossible to be on the same server for all of your SIM's (well, if it doesn't happen for som "exotic" luck) because the hardware is "shared" (to optimize the number of available server per simulators). It's more a technical matter, than a decision: if they assign a "dedicated server", they would have potentially unused cores (eg: a region goes down, and it stay down > you gonna have 3 cores upon 4 available in use... and this is not optimal).
MadamG Zagato means business Join date: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 1,402	12-04-2007 05:35 From: Vittorio Beerbaum Madame, this is a grid and it works on "virtual servers". There's no "dedicated server" (even for different sim/owners), each simulator is infact "virtual" and when it comes up, it starts to run on the first core available on the grid, on a "random" phisical server of the assigned "class" (eg: class5). So, if a region goes down and restarts, the process will start again: a new "free core" is found and the SIM goes up again on a different hardware. So it is impossible to be on the same server for all of your SIM's (well, if it doesn't happen for som "exotic" luck) because the hardware is "shared" (to optimize the number of available server per simulators). It's more a technical matter, than a decision: if they assign a "dedicated server", they would have potentially unused cores (eg: a region goes down, and it stay down > you gonna have 3 cores upon 4 available in use... and this is not optimal). ok that explains it. I had no idea. That is actually very cool. Thanks!

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