with enough money, can this be done.

is it possible to build an island that can support 100,000 people simultaneously? if so what kind of hardware would i need (servers, how many), and how will i integrate my systems with LL?

a) The number of servers that Linden Lab have times 3.
b) If you have that much resources integration would not be an issue. You would replace LL.

how many people would twenty servers hold?

20 x around 50 = 1000

Thank you.

is that using the best servers?

One way to do it would be to have 1000 sims (100 users per sim) each simulating 5.2m², which would require 250 servers. That could cause a huge amount of internal traffic and bring the system to it's knees though.

If you didn't need all the users to interact with each other you could shard it and have one main sim that the others get their information from for the environment and have 1000 sims (250 servers) each with 100 users that can't see any users from other sims.

If you don't need the full functionality of SL you could rework some parts and get away with fewer sims, but then you might actually be better off creating a totally new system.

EDIT: Hang on, 100 avatars standing on a standard plywood cube? That'll never fit. You sure you want 100,000 people on one island?

Actually, island doesn't just mean one sim, does it? Yeah, you could put together a massive island that'd hold 100,000 users on 1000 sims running on 250 servers.

No comment on how well (or even if) it would run though.

I guess the client side lag would be absolutely unbearable...

Even if Linden Labs did have these recources, you would be paying..200 x 1,000 = alot of money a month.. Well I believe thats a corect fee.. 100 users per sim, you want 100,000 users = 1,000 sims..
or maybe I misinterprited..

Oh and it would lag so bad - if your computer didnt lock up first the island would be going down around once every 3 minuts

i have been off-line for a while, and i've read the responses which i thank you for tremendously. My partner is the developer, and he will be on-line later to ask more focused questions involving the hardware needed to pull off such a feat.
However, i am still searching for what may work. Can i possibly put four, six, or ten sims together to hold a capacity of maybe 20,000 people? Of is it in fact iron clad that you will only have 100 AVs per server, per sim, and there is no technical way of getting around that?
What i would need are the full features of second life as well ( the AVS can interact). My partner says he has a piece of hardware in mind that will cost in upwards of 500,000 to750,000 USD, but he still is not certain whether it will do the job.
Do we have any futurists out there who can speculate on what kind of software this could take? That would be void of crashes,lag, etc. All constructive input is welcome. Even if you dont believe that it is possible, humor me. example: your scenario does'nt have a chance in hell of working, But here is what i would try. I have had one creative response so far, and thank you again.

Correction, all of you had constructive ideas.

This:is not the same as this:

It's worth noting that LL have never licensed the SL server software in the past too.

Gotta ask... if you're seriously considering a project running into hundreds of thousands of dollars, why are you talking to us rather than LL?

Ask the people first. Your opinion has value.

But you're asking technical questions about things most people here have no more than a working knowledge of, not "would you like this kind of thing" or "what aspects of this do you use most". In this case the public's opinion means practically nothing.

I respectfully disagree.... Recently a person from LL was known to publicly state that Second Life can currently support a maximum 100,000 concurrent users. All of us actually *using* Second Life can say with complete conviction that 100,000 is pure marketing BS and not have to worry about investors or our image.

It does not take in-depth technical knowledge to know that the entire SL grid cannot support that load when the empirical evidence is so overwhelmingly obvious. And strangely, SL does seem to have a fairly high number of technical professionals in it's user base

This is a question that goes beyond simply renting a load of sims though. A company seriously expecting to be able to match a sizeable proportion of LL's current userbase, as the OP suggests, would likely be looking at licensing the Second Life technology in some form. At that point the current performance of the grid is but one point on a whole list of stuff to consider. As it hasn't been stated what is actually needed, there's a good possibility that some things could be stripped out to reduce strain on the system too.

Perhaps you are right

soo what,? i suggest the OP document himself about sl's capabilities and technology before making any "dreams" or assumptions.

being in the garage games community i see everyday on their forums some self appointed geniuses that want to make the next mmorpg .

Not accusing anybody just i recommend to... cool down a little and do some proper researches.
Evaluating the system's capabilities before having dreams for it.

That's a good point. I have been assuming Jamil already has a business plan etc. sorted when it might just be a pipe dream.

I ask these questions (although i am not a IT guy) out of extreme impatience. As i have stated before, i do in fact have a business partner who is an IT guy ( he is a developer who creates "risk compliance" software for the Swiss Bank). Unfortunately, he suffers from a disease that i have avoided ( a wife and three kids). So when he gets home, there are always promises to do the research that is required. However, home duties and the lack of sleep on his part has slowed us down for the last SIX weeks. Fortunately, i have created a forty page business plan which focuses on potential content that i believe will generate revenue in SL. Currently, the only thing we have left to add to the budget are the IT requirements. I originally started at the number of 100,000, because that is my goal. Whether it is feasible or not remains to be seen (thats why i am here). Because of technology restraints, i may very well have to scale down my goals until LL's can get their technology stream-lined, or up to par, whichever.
I would not be the one who contacts LL, simply because i am not tech savvy enough to direct any focused questions about technology towards them. So the next best thing to me, is to ask questions in different forums to get a feel for what may be required ( IT wise). Because you have to be tech savvy to create in-world, i was certainly under the impression that the residents would know much more than myself (sorry for thinking that).
And as for dreams, yes what i have in mind can very well be considered a dream. However the dream comes first, then the research (i have literally read everything there is to read on SL, outside of IT stuff). And i have spent endless hours, on a daily basis, doing so (as i rarely walk around in-world, just enough to see what's missing).
Hell, without the dream what exactly are you researching? I have started businesses before, and most of the time when someone says that something can't be done, they are usually verbalizing their own capabilities or lack thereof. I have read enough forums to see just about everyone with a fresh idea get ridiculed or labeled as a dreamer who can't possibly pull-off what they are trying to accomplish. Maybe that is why SL's technolgy is where is today, there is'nt anyone that is willing to spend the money required to make LL'S continuously and diligently work out their kinks.
In many ways i am very,VERY, lucky in that i do have access to capital (and that comes from my past achievements as a "dreamer", which puts me in a better position than most, to realize ones dreams. But i do thank you for your imput, and i am still interested in what people think.

if you have a real project, with real money, you should take this question straight to Linden Lab, not kick it around here on the forums.

lee

After that long post, I'm thinking not necessarily.

Jamil, what kind of thing are you planning? How did you come to your figures for target number of users?

AJ, i have wrestled with even asking questions about my would-be project for fear of IP theft, so forgive me if i have been vague ( it is on purpose). The way i see it, if my plans are at all feasible, and i can begin to put my plan into motion, i would then tell the world of my project. The reason being, is that the cost of the project would have created such a large barrier of entry that no one would dare try to beat me to the punch. And if they tried to become my competition after i have opened for business, then i would have the more mature model.
I originally came to the number of 100,000 based on the amount of users in SL. I don't rely on the current population numbers, instead i figure that 15-20% of the population are actual consistant users. Again AJ, this number can be scaled down (5, 10, or 20 thousand) and i would still have a very lucrative and innovative business.
What attracted businessmen to my idea were a few reasons. 1) most have never seen a virtual platform such as SL. And that intrigued them in and of itself, which in turn made them see the opportunity that i presented to them much more clearly. 3) when they asked people who were in the know(knowing of SL's existence) about my idea they thought it was special to say the least. 4) When they talk to their kids about the idea ( not children), and the kids say that "they have to see my idea in a virtual world", and "it would be unbelievable". And that is about all of the "leg work" most executives are willing to do. So the money is very close by, and i always try very hard to use OPM when getting into any kind of business ventures.