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Our main server is offline and Wewak is unreachable (r)
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| starking018 | Date: Thursday, 2017-09-21, 8:57 PM | Message # 1 |
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Colonel
Group: Friends
Messages: 395
Status: Offline
| As you must have noticed, our main server has been offline since Tuesday, 19 of September. A temporary server was started by me a few hours later.
The main server is a dedicated machine provided and hosted by Hetzner (https://www.hetzner.com). The contract is in Wewak's name, so, to the best of my knowledge, he is the one with access to the account on their website, ability to contact support about it, and responsibility to do the bill payments to Hetzner. The stats and this forum show that Wewak was last seen around the 9th-11th of February. Bubu, who has been maintaining the server remotely, and Marduk, one of the main admins, have been trying to contact him via e-mail a few times since then, and again after the server went offline, with no response. At this point, it would help if anyone could contact him via other means to get a response from him about the situation. As far as I understand, no one else has the right to take over this server contract without Wewak's cooperation.
Without any communication with Wewak we don't know what happened with the server, the bills, Wewak himself, etc.
So, unless we get a response from Wewak and resolve this, we should be discussing what to do for a new server. There are some known backups of server configurations, server-side mod files, etc. If you are one of those people who has such files, you could tell us what you have and what date you created that backup.
Basically, we are now restarting these old discussions about what machine we should use, where to host it, and who is going to maintain it, who is going to contract a server provider (if any) and who is going to support it financially or materially:
http://fhsw-europ.ucoz.de/forum/2-620-1
http://fhsw-europ.ucoz.de/forum/2-797-1
I've indicated that I will try to keep my temporary server online until the end of the month, if needed. Perhaps I can keep it somewhat longer, and I think that other people could also start their own if needed (we have about 3-4 other players who have done it in the past) so you shouldn't worry about having no server to play FHSW on. We also don't have to rush any decision.
Air Troll a.k.a. starking018
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| RADIOSMERSH | Date: Thursday, 2017-09-21, 10:21 PM | Message # 2 |
 FHSW Wikia Co-Admin
Group: Bronze Donator
Messages: 664
Status: Offline
| Quote starking018 (  ) So, unless we get a response from Wewak and resolve this, we should be discussing what to do for a new server. There are some known backups of server configurations, server-side mod files, etc. If you are one of those people who has such files, you could tell us what you have and what date you created that backup.
I have all SSMs I made for 0.61. I'll upload them somewhere or even create a public FTP server specially for that.
Quote starking018 ( ) Basically, we are now restarting these old discussions about what machine we should use, where to host it, and who is going to maintain it, who is going to contract a server provider (if any) and who is going to support it financially or materially:
I'd say if wewak doesn't respond, we should stay with Hetzner, as they have cheapest offers on market (in Europe, at least). For example, you can get i7 4770 + 32GB RAM + 2x2TB hard drive for 36.60 € on auction (or even cheaper - I swear I saw same configuration for 29 € a few minutes before I posted this, but when I refreshed page it was gone) + € 25.42 for Windows Server 2016 license. Basically the same price for better perfomance.
Message edited by RADIOSMERSH - Thursday, 2017-09-21, 10:28 PM |
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| starking018 | Date: Thursday, 2017-09-21, 10:56 PM | Message # 3 |
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Colonel
Group: Friends
Messages: 395
Status: Offline
| Looking at those old threads you'll see some options mentioned. Like RADIOSMERSH, I was looking at the option of going back to the same provider too. They offer a Dutch auction for servers. You can see that they offer several servers with similar specifications as our current one (same CPU) starting at 33€ per month (set minimum "CPU benchmark" to 9000 and it filters the slower servers): https://www.hetzner.com/sb
They also offer servers with a slightly (less than 10%) faster CPU for 46.41€:
https://www.hetzner.com/dedicated-rootserver/matrix-ex
In addition, if we are to get a Windows OS from them, they ask for a monthly fee:
Quote Windows Server 2016 Standard Edition + Plesk
(Price (monthly): € 25.00 / Setup (once): € 0.00)
So, that's 33€+25€=58€/month, slightly cheaper than before, for about the same hardware as before:
Quote Endless_Nameless ( ) Well, I have already bought a Windows server now. biggrin
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3,4 GHz
HDD: 3 TB SATA
RAM: 16 GB DDR3
OS: Windows 2012 Server R2
Costs: 60€ per month
As I mentioned in the old threads, a FHSW server needs little resources. Only the CPU really matters, and it mostly affects the loading times. The other specifications (RAM, disks) in those offers are overkill and don't help much as far as a FHSW server is concerned. i7 4770 has the same max turbo frequency of 3.9GHz as i7 3770, so the performance difference is very small (http://www.cpu-world.com/benchmarks/desktop_CPUs_single.html).
Back then E-3 and me suggested the possibility for one of us to build a machine and host it at someone's home. It could be cheaper than the cost of server+software from a provider over about half a year.
Quote starking018 ( )
If we decide to build and host a server at someone's home I can help with choosing appropriate components and with overclocking, which can improve server performance (mainly map loading time) beyond what most server hosting companies offer. So, to give you a sense of the benefits of this, while the companies normally offer servers with CPUs that can go up to 3.9-4.4GHz, with overclock we can reach maybe about 4.5-5.2GHz and the map loading times would go down proportionally. So, with a custom build and overclocking we could get perhaps about 15-20% more speed for hardware that costs about the same as what it costs to a hosting company, or get about the same speed from much cheaper hardware.
I can also offer to host such a server at my home, where I can contribute a decent CPU cooler (air cooling, good for a medium overclock) that I currently don't use, and I can share my current internet connection. It's supposed to be 15Mbit/s upload (as much as E-3's) but in practice it goes up to over 30Mbit/s in at least some parts of the day/week (that's the test result I get now). As far as I remember we played with about 50-70 players on this connection with Bluedrake42's crowd and the bandwidth was enough. Where I live there are many great choices for internet connections that are fiber-to-the-home (my former ISP), fiber-to-the-curb (current), ADSL or cable; at high speeds and good prices. So, if we decide that we want it I could get a second connection installed for a higher bandwidth and redundancy but I would ask for someone to pay the bill (it would cost something like 10 Euros per month and usually free installation). If I am to build a server here I could buy hardware at OK prices (no tax). I could provide a Windows OS at my responsibility. We can discuss more specifics if we decide that a custom server build is a viable option.
One drawback about hosting at my location is that most of the players would get about 10-30ms higher ping, except perhaps those in Eastern Europe, Asia, etc. who may get a lower ping.
I'm reiterating this, since I feel that this is a way to contribute that is efficient and easy for me. However, my location is not ideal for hosting latency-wise (ping).
Air Troll a.k.a. starking018
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| bubu | Date: Friday, 2017-09-22, 3:46 AM | Message # 4 |
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Colonel
Group: Admins
Messages: 428
Status: Offline
| Thread from E-3:
http://fhsw-europ.ucoz.de/forum/2-885-1
Please, I think it'd be better to use the current thread from Air Troll so we have all information in one place.Added (2017-09-22, 2:46 AM)
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What about not getting Windows on the new machine, and run everything on Linux with Wine and using ssh/vnc running for remote management?
Radio, any intel how well would Wine+BF server perform?
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| E-3 | Date: Friday, 2017-09-22, 11:46 AM | Message # 5 |
 Lieutenant Colonel
Group: Bronze Donator
Messages: 195
Status: Offline
| (i copy paste my text from that thread)
9 months ago wewak took over hetzner server but he has not been online for 8 months now
bubu tried to contact the remote server but gets nothing so at this point i think the bill is no longer paid and hetzner just turn the switch off.
so what are our options now for the new fhsw server ?
do we run a home run server from good hardware and good upload speed at least 100 mbps up ?.
or do we go for a dedicated paid server ?.
(---------------------------------------------here the pros for home run server----------------------------------------------------------)
1 the server will be cheap to run.
2 the hardware and os will be build for bf1942 with high single core performance.
3 the server and teamspeak settings are stored on a local computer and can be saved easy.
4 the hardware will be cheap to replace.
(----------------------------------------------------here the cons for home run server-----------------------------------------------------)
1 the server will be controlled by a single person at home if he is gone the server will be gone for good.
2 if isp has problems the server be offline.
3 the server can be ddos easily and you no longer can play on it even worst you cant switch to new ip the isp will only give you 1 ip!.
4 the isp may decide to upgrade the modem and now your server is on new ip and lost the old ip.
5 the isp may decide to drop support for ipv4 in favor of ipv6 and now you no longer have a dedicated ipv4 address and now you cant host a home run server!.
6 the home server hardware can fail especially the psu on 24/7 running even high quality psu with good capacitors can fail and when they do, trust me they can blow up a motherboard cpu easy so the server be offline for some time.
7 the home run server may give a bad ping and lag for some players as its location and upload is not ideal.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(----------------------------------------------here the pros for dedicated paid server-----------------------------------------------)
1 its location and upload are ideal and is far less likely to give lag or bad ping.
2 the server will be controlled by at least 3 or more people so it won't go offline ever again.
3 the server will have a very high bandwidth with ddos protection
4 the server can switch to new ip if the server is somehow still under ddos attack but this will cost money and the ddos attacker can just move to that new ip so now you get even higher cost!.
5 the server is running on professional computer servers with backup servers so down time be rare as long as you pay the bill 
(----------------------------------------------here the cons for dedicated paid server-----------------------------------------------)
1 well you all see this coming HIGH COST!.
2 overkill hardware you still have to pay.
3 if you dont pay GONE is your server and all your settings if you forgot to back it up!.
4 getting the money every time for the server by donations can be a very nervous time
________________________________________________________________________________________________
so what you guys think ?
here is my idea over this i really love a dedicated paid server but it cost money and we are not all rich are we ?
so this means we will need donations! and a PayPal tab to get this to work.
lets say we get the money to run the dedicated paid server
i think it has to be no longer controlled by 1 single person but by at least 3 or more people so payments won't be a problem
so the server won't go offline leaving the community in the cold.
so who is up for donations!
i give 10 euro im just poor guy  but it's the thought that counts.
(i pm buddydog from forgottenhonor maybe he can help with a new server but if we go for a server from forgottenhonor this means the server is under forgottenhonor control)
I'm an old bf1942 player I go far back all the way to 2002
and I also play cnc generals.
Message edited by E-3 - Friday, 2017-09-22, 11:51 AM |
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| starking018 | Date: Friday, 2017-09-22, 4:13 PM | Message # 6 |
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Colonel
Group: Friends
Messages: 395
Status: Offline
| Some of the same questions were discussed in the old topic. Here are some relevant parts.
@bubu see this:
Quote RADIOSMERSH ( ) There are native dedicated server binaries for Linux. From my experience, there is no much difference between Linux and Windows in terms of perfomance, but with Linux you can't Remote Desktop into server (as I suppose they have Debian installed without graphic shell) as you have to do all thing through the terminal and must be prepared to do a lot of bash scripting.
On the other hand, it is easier to setup stats tool on Linux, as you can setup Apache and MySQL with just one command (if we're going to do it, of course).
I think that in this comment RADIOSMERSH was talking specifically about the performance of the BF1942 server. There are indeed native Linux versions for both the BF1942 server and the BF server manager.
I also wonder if there is any difference between the Linux and Windows versions of the BF1942 server in stability - whether the Linux one crashes in fewer cases and whether it can restart automatically from all kinds of crashes (I guess it does).
For more on the topic of Linux, please read the part of the older conversation between this (follow the >> link):
Quote starking018 ( ) Perhaps we could use a server with Linux installed and then if we really need to we could install a virtual machine with Windows with an improper licence or a pirated one - it doesn't matter - the server provider is not responsible for it, so they would probably not care/know. I don't believe in copyrights so it's OK with me, I don't know about you.
and the middle of the page when the server was ordered.
Quote E-3 ( ) 4 the isp may decide to upgrade the modem and now your server is on new ip and lost the old ip.
There's an easy solution for this. There are free Dynamic DNS services that provide free subdomains, such as no-ip.org. The Japanese IMO SABA FHSW0.61 uses one of these and their server address always looks like this, even though the IP changes: imosababf1942.dip.jp:14567
Quote E-3 ( ) 6 the home server hardware can fail especially the psu on 24/7 running even high quality psu with good capacitors can fail and when they do, trust me they can blow up a motherboard cpu easy so the server be offline for some time.
Then we'd have to choose one which is really good quality, like a PSU which is made for servers, or an equivalent quality consumer PSU. I'd look into it if we go that route.
Air Troll a.k.a. starking018
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| Robert_von_Eberhahn | Date: Friday, 2017-09-22, 5:58 PM | Message # 7 |
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Lieutenant General
Group: Silver Donator
Messages: 969
Status: Offline
| If I have the time and start playing again I will start my donations of 5€ every month again. Everything elese with topic hardware and something like that ... I´m a technical noob in PC things
 Gameserver admin on our FHSW Europ server
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| marduk | Date: Friday, 2017-09-22, 7:13 PM | Message # 8 |
 General
Group: Admins
Messages: 1681
Status: Offline
| I go along with the idea to stay with hetzner.com and I would throw in 10 €/month.
This is a gaming community. People come here to relax. If you start an argument you will get kicked.
Quid pro quo.
Marduk aka Postduk
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| E-3 | Date: Friday, 2017-09-22, 7:53 PM | Message # 9 |
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Lieutenant Colonel
Group: Bronze Donator
Messages: 195
Status: Offline
| Quote starking018 ( ) There's an easy solution for this. There are free Dynamic DNS services that provide free subdomains, such as no-ip.org. The Japanese IMO SABA FHSW0.61 uses one of these and their server address always looks like this, even though the IP changes: imosababf1942.dip.jp:14567
and the biggest threat to home run server still is ipv6 your isp can decide to go ds lite ipv4 this means you cant host a ipv4 server
my isp say for now they keep Dual Stack that means you have a ipv4 and ipv6 address but they cannot say if they keep that in the future
I'm an old bf1942 player I go far back all the way to 2002
and I also play cnc generals.
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| bubu | Date: Friday, 2017-09-22, 8:45 PM | Message # 10 |
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Colonel
Group: Admins
Messages: 428
Status: Offline
| Quote starking018 ( ) Quote RADIOSMERSH (There are native dedicated server binaries for Linux. From my experience, there is no much difference between Linux and Windows in terms of perfomance, but with Linux you can't Remote Desktop into server (as I suppose they have Debian installed without graphic shell) as you have to do all thing through the terminal and must be prepared to do a lot of bash scripting.
On the other hand, it is easier to setup stats tool on Linux, as you can setup Apache and MySQL with just one command (if we're going to do it, of course).)
I am ok with bash and working over SSH into the box as I do that almost all the time ^_^. Securing OpenSSH, setting up firewall, putting up other security based stuff is not much of a problem as well.
But I also think it would be possible to install, lets say some lightweight desktop environment with the x11 server there and set up the VNC for remote desktop as well. However, I do not see any reasons for doing that as we already would have ssh connection and it would eat much needed resources for nothing.
Quote marduk ( ) I go along with the idea to stay with hetzner.com and I would throw in 10 €/month. Quote starking018 ( ) Perhaps we could use a server with Linux installed and then if we really need to we could install a virtual machine with Windows with an improper licence or a pirated one - it doesn't matter - the server provider is not responsible for it, so they would probably not care/know. I don't believe in copyrights so it's OK with me, I don't know about you.
I don't know if we can go around with improper licence of Win. It is better to be safe in this area. Either way, the server would eat resources to run the base system and the virtual host. (I know 256MB for some terminal based Debian is alright but still  It is 256MB Would it be worth it?)
Quote E-3 ( ) ...my isp say for now they keep Dual Stack that means you have a ipv4 and ipv6 address but they cannot say if they keep that in the future
Quote starking018 ( ) ...please read the part of the older conversation between this (follow the >> link):
Quote starking018 ( ) I also wonder if there is any difference between the Linux and Windows versions of the BF1942 server in stability - whether the Linux one crashes in fewer cases and whether it can restart automatically from all kinds of crashes (I guess it does).
Message edited by bubu - Friday, 2017-09-22, 8:46 PM |
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| Born-1942 | Date: Friday, 2017-09-22, 9:27 PM | Message # 11 |
 Colonel
Group: Friends
Messages: 339
Status: Offline
| Complicated situation, but I agree with you E3.
maybe if I can help, I'll help with the donations, donated 20 dollars.
but I need to know how the payment will be, I'll give you R$ 40 that will be converted into 20 dollars.
but I can not do this every month. I'm poor too, but I do it for the community.
'm sorry to have answered on the E3 topic, I saw this topic after his.
Nicknames BornDarkness and Soldado da Wehrmacht
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| RADIOSMERSH | Date: Sunday, 2017-09-24, 0:58 AM | Message # 12 |
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FHSW Wikia Co-Admin
Group: Bronze Donator
Messages: 664
Status: Offline
| Well, I say why don't we try and go with Linux. If the experiment won't succeed (and I bet it will), we can always install Windows through Hetzner admin panel.
BFSM for Linux is presented in form of console application, that can be run as daemon, if needed.
Quote bubu ( ) I agree with this, as you said Troll, I am interested in whether the server would be more stable with a Linux distribution or with Windows and where can it recover better without much assistance?
I will just give some figures here: out of 77 BF1942 servers currently active 52 are running on Linux, including most popular ones, like --=[ aX ]==-- or SiMPLE. Other pros is that, unlike in Windows, if BF1942 server process crashes it just outputs error description to bfsmd console or even terminates silently (remember how many times you had to login through remote desktop in order to close annoying "Application has stopped working" message that made BFRM freeze).
Quote bubu ( ) But I also think it would be possible to install, lets say some lightweight desktop environment with the x11 server there and set up the VNC for remote desktop as well. However, I do not see any reasons for doing that as we already would have ssh connection and it would eat much needed resources for nothing.
Quote bubu ( ) Even if we stay with Hetzner.de, we would need to decide which operating system we will use on the server. With Windows we would have to pay 20 euros more because of licensing. Pros of that is 'remote desktop connection' and point-and-click ability.
Debian with XFCE uses slightly more than 300MB and with window manager like AwesomiumWM or OpenBox it is even below 100MB. We can install Wine and run BFRM through it, which works just fine from my experience.
Now I think after setting up the we should add the PayPal donation button on the main page, preferably with progress bar, so players can see how money is left to be raised for the next month. On my part, I'm willing to donate 5-10 € monthly.
Also, what about replacing the Gametracker widget for the old server with new one: https://www.gametracker.com/server_info/87.121.56.129:14567/
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| marduk | Date: Sunday, 2017-09-24, 7:47 AM | Message # 13 |
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General
Group: Admins
Messages: 1681
Status: Offline
| @Radio: "Now I think after setting up the we should add the PayPal donation button on the main page, preferably with progress bar, so players can see how (much) money is left to be raised for the next month. On my part, I'm willing to donate 5-10 € monthly."
That is a good idea. Important is, that we get monthly donations. It is not very usefull if players donate 10 € just once. Even a donation of 2 € helps, if its transferred every month. This would also work out for players with a low budget.
This is a gaming community. People come here to relax. If you start an argument you will get kicked.
Quid pro quo.
Marduk aka Postduk
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| bubu | Date: Sunday, 2017-09-24, 10:15 AM | Message # 14 |
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Colonel
Group: Admins
Messages: 428
Status: Offline
| Quote RADIOSMERSH ( ) (and I bet it will)
Quote RADIOSMERSH ( ) ....We can install Wine and run BFRM through it, which works just fine from my experience.
...if BF1942 server process crashes it just outputs error description to bfsmd console or even terminates silently...
Quote RADIOSMERSH ( )
And I fully agree with monthly donations and PP link on the main page
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| marduk | Date: Sunday, 2017-09-24, 12:51 PM | Message # 15 |
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General
Group: Admins
Messages: 1681
Status: Offline
| Quote Bubu: "Can you do this Ducky or should I ask Stefan to do that?"
The last changes at the side bars were done by Endless. I dont know how to do it.
This is a gaming community. People come here to relax. If you start an argument you will get kicked.
Quid pro quo.
Marduk aka Postduk
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| bubu | Date: Sunday, 2017-09-24, 1:34 PM | Message # 16 |
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Colonel
Group: Admins
Messages: 428
Status: Offline
| Quote marduk ( ) The last changes at the side bars were done by Endless. I dont know how to do it. 
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| starking018 | Date: Sunday, 2017-09-24, 3:37 PM | Message # 17 |
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Colonel
Group: Friends
Messages: 395
Status: Offline
| In each quote there's a "Link to the quoted text", which works for the quotes from the old threads that I posted.
As for having a Linux server, I think people want to know that someone is willing and able to set up the server and also someone to promise to maintain it (install new FHSW versions, etc). It could be multiple people. But what is needed is a clear commitment who is going to do what. By the way, the Japanese Kabu.server FHSW0.61 is a Linux server.
Pum! mentioned on my server that he is trying to find a buyer for a MSI Z97 Gaming 5 motherboard and a G3258 CPU for about 140 Euro. The motherboard is a bit more expensive than is needed for a server, however, I think that he can deliver the components already overclocked, and that would make it very nice for a FHSW server (maybe about 15% faster than the current one).
Looks like we also need more people to say what money/resources they are willing to contribute. If you posted about donating only in the old threads please post again here, because a long time has passed since then.
Air Troll a.k.a. starking018
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| bubu | Date: Sunday, 2017-09-24, 4:08 PM | Message # 18 |
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Colonel
Group: Admins
Messages: 428
Status: Offline
| Quote starking018 ( ) In each quote there's a "Link to the quoted text", which works for the quotes from the old threads that I posted.
Quote starking018 ( ) As for having a Linux server, I think people want to know that someone is willing and able to set up the server and also someone to promise to maintain it (install new FHSW versions, etc). It could be multiple people. But what is needed is a clear commitment who is going to do what.
However, I would need a bit of help please from you Troll & Radio in setting up the BFSM deamon as I have not done that before. I also am lacking the required items as listed here: http://team-simple.org/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=48729#p48729 as those first 2 links are not working anymore.
EDIT:
Quote Mr_J ( ) I remember we were having problems with patching FHT Linux servers with
the no-key patch. Both the training and battle servers were patched the
same way but only one of them worked, allowing CD and Origin users play
altogether. The reason remained unknown, we could do nothing, since the
only Linux-geek was unreachable at that time. So yeah, Linux is OK as
long as everything works properly, but when something screws up, the
server operator gets screwed up as well.
Quote Mr_J ( ) So, Tomek has agreed on setting things up to the linux server, if needed.
Reading through the topic Troll provided I noticed these two messages. So I guess it would be good to know if there is any workaround for the no-key patch or if there is any new patch (these messages are from 2014/15)? And it also would be good to hear Mr_J's and Tomek's inputs on this as well...?
Message edited by bubu - Sunday, 2017-09-24, 4:30 PM |
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| RADIOSMERSH | Date: Sunday, 2017-09-24, 11:24 PM | Message # 19 |
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FHSW Wikia Co-Admin
Group: Bronze Donator
Messages: 664
Status: Offline
| Quote starking018 ( ) As for having a Linux server, I think people want to know that someone is willing and able to set up the server and also someone to promise to maintain it (install new FHSW versions, etc). It could be multiple people. But what is needed is a clear commitment who is going to do what.
Quote bubu ( ) I can devote my time to maintain it. I can connect to it even from my phone, so if I am not sleeping or on tube with no connection, I can do what is needed.
You can count on me too.
Quote bubu ( )
Just use this link. It contains complete server package, already patched to accept both Origin and CD users without checking CD-keys. As for BFSM, there is a detailed installation tutorial inside the archive with it on link you posted.
Oh yeah, as soon as you install FHSW, you'll need to run fixinstall.sh script that will convert all folders' and files' names to lowercase.
Message edited by RADIOSMERSH - Sunday, 2017-09-24, 11:25 PM |
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| Endless_Nameless | Date: Monday, 2017-09-25, 3:55 PM | Message # 20 |
 General
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| Quote marduk ( ) The last changes at the side bars were done by Endless. I dont know how to do it.
Done.
I'll try to add a Paypal link, too when there's a dedicated mail.
My Youtube Channel
aka eYe.ris
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