A new set of notes about the server status

[Cannon]

The new server is a i7-975 and it seems to have fixed our problems related to CPU and network performance.

Now that the performance and network issues seem to be resolved, I'm going to be looking at the reason we're still getting crashes. I'll post information about these crashes here. The upside is that the server restarts within a minute now - rather than the 20 minutes it took in the past.

The underlying reason for crashes is because FLServer is buggy. Using FL hook we patch a dozen or so known bugs and I intend to extend this.

At the time of posting, we've had 3 crashes in a 12 hour period. The details are:

1) Crash was related to tractoring objects.
2) Dunno, possibly corrupt character related triggering crash on logon or and number of player limits.
3) A memory excursion where FLserver suddenly uses all available memory (we kill it when it hits 2 gigs).

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Proud member of "the most paranoid group of people in the community"

Old Avatar #2 | Old Avatar #3

[Birdtalon]

Is there anything we can do to help prevent crashes?

I assume large battles contribute to it to some extent, but are there any othe tips you can give to help improve performance from a player's point of view?

Kudos for the good work.

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[Cannon]

Other notes:
- Autobuy is broken, i'll look at this
- CD tracking is fixed (or should be)
- Because we have many more NPCs now, even with 180 players, I will speak to the devs about possibly reducing the number or strength of NPCs in some systems.

Large battles increase server load and did crash the other rented server but I think the new server can cope with this.

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Proud member of "the most paranoid group of people in the community"

Old Avatar #2 | Old Avatar #3

[Zelot]

We just had a fight involving 25 or so fighters, and some caps, and aside from frame rate issues some people had, the connection held really well, and this was with a full server.

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[Elsdragon]

-MORE- NPC"S?!?!??!?!?


Well, at least I can pierat more NPC transports now....

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No longer a slave to the man!

[Snoozzzer]

The NPCs that are now flying about are much appreciated . . along with the reduced lag and few crashes of course.

. . . but having the option to kill npcs during peak times is very nice . .

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[Cawdor]

As I said before, I am more than satisfied with the current server performance. It is simply a dream come true for every fighter pilot out there.

However, I'm curious if you will try to finish the split server technology or if you will entirely focus on maintaining the current server for the next couple of months.

I'd also like to complain about all those NPCs. Can't we just get rid of em? >.<
They are especially annoying in guard systems when having training and such. Not the only place where they cause FPS drops and friendly fire, though.

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[Cannon]

I'm still looking at the split server but I will probably drop the priority of this and finish the work I promised for 4.86 first and stop these memory excursion crashes.

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Proud member of "the most paranoid group of people in the community"

Old Avatar #2 | Old Avatar #3

[Cannon]

Okay, another two crashes in a row. Same problem. I've enabled more debugging. I suspect that this is related to a particular ship or model or wreck. On the upside of the crashes is that there are lots of wrecks to loot.

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Proud member of "the most paranoid group of people in the community"

Old Avatar #2 | Old Avatar #3

[mwerte]

- CD tracking is fixed (or should be)

oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you oh thank you

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