Server Quality

[bravo]

We currently have our server threw http://xgamingservers.com/ and everything seems to be working just fine but recently we have come accross http://www.nrgservers.net/ *High Quality* servers and the audio quality is way better. It is not even compairable, I contacted our server provider and he said they are using the highest quality settings there are except for the LAN vent server. He says that they do not use that because it causes the server to become very unstable and that they are going for performance over quality there. Is any of this true? What are your thoughts about the unstability of this "LAN" server?

[Flagship]

Servers are stable no matter what codec/sample rate is used. But the higher the sample rate the more bandwidth it will consume. However, that does not translate to instability.

Many licensee's run there servers at 22Khz and 44Khz without problems. If they did have problems I can assure you they would let me know.

[Brandon]

As Flagship said there are no stability problems. A high quality vent means that you the voice quality will be much better, but it will use up more bandwidth, on both the server and clients' end.

[Jay71]

About how much monthly bandwith do your ventrilo servers use up exactly? Say with an average of 10 users a day on the highest quality codec.

[Patrick]

Codec/Formats listed below along with bandwidth details:

Codec Format Description:
0 0 GSM 6.10 (8000 Hz, 16 bit) 1625 bytes/sec
0 1 GSM 6.10 (11025 Hz, 16 bit) 2210 bytes/sec
0 2 GSM 6.10 (22050 Hz, 16 bit) 4420 bytes/sec
0 3 GSM 6.10 (44100 Hz, 16 bit) 8905 bytes/sec
1 0 DSP Group TrueSpeech (8000 Hz, 16 bit) 1056 bytes/sec
2 0 Lernout & Hauspie (8000 Hz, 16 bit) 600 bytes/sec

Here is a little tid-bit off the website:
Using the 3K bytes/sec example[GSM 11Hz] this will translate into the following numbers. If you are in a channel (not to be confused with a server) and there are 3 other people in the same channel as you: One of the other people talking will produce 3K bytes of inbound data.
Two people in the same channel talking will produce 6K bytes of inbound data.
Three people in the same channel talking will produce 9K bytes of inbound data.
And so on....


The outbound traffic coming from you and going to the server will remain constant when ever you are broadcasting. Using the default codec you will produce approximately 3K bytes/sec of outbound data.

[sp0n9e]

/rcon serverstatus gives the bandwidth used for a few days when using a certain codec. from here you can extrapolate by multiplication about how much bandwidth you'll use. total server bandwidth depends on the number of people in the same channel just as much as the codec you choose. the biggest reason not to run a higher codec would probably be for dialup users.

[Woolf]

We currently have our server threw http://xgamingservers.com/ and everything seems to be working just fine but recently we have come accross http://www.nrgservers.net/ *High Quality* servers and the audio quality is way better. It is not even compairable, I contacted our server provider and he said they are using the highest quality settings there are except for the LAN vent server. He says that they do not use that because it causes the server to become very unstable and that they are going for performance over quality there. Is any of this true? What are your thoughts about the unstability of this "LAN" server?

nrgservers offers both regular and high quality Ventrilo servers. The reason behind this is that with high quality, *some* lower-end users, such as Dial-Up or wireless networked; get cut-outs or 'lag'. That's probably why XGS does not offer high quality servers, because they are aiming towards performance. If they want everyone to have good performance, its best to ensure that you have the best quality possible, yet, without harming the lower end or wireless users.

[Patrick]

That or the quality of their network isn't good or they can't afford to chew through at least twice the amount of bandwidth when running the GSM 44Hz codec. Could be a few differen't reasons...

[bravo]

yes, I know that nrgservers offers both, I am talking about XGS and their reasoning behind not offering their so called *high quality* servers to us which in actuallity was the GSM 6.10-11025HZ one which is not the high quality 44000HZ one. and their reasoning of instability and for lan usage only. sorry for not repling quicker, totally forgot about posting this.

from XGS's webpage
Ventrilo Communication Servers - Top Quality Codec settings!
The Ventrilo servers we host are fully licensed and setup in the Washington DC location. They are hosted on a Dual AMD MP 2400+ with 2GB of Memory. We use the highest quality settings unlike many of our competitors. You will see many different prices between hosting companies but they fail to tell you they turn your codec quality down. There is no need to worry about performance on these voice servers!

Email from them
The only higher setting that is on the Ventrilo is a LAN setting which by the creator is not recommended as it causes crashing and lockups on the Ventrilo if its not on a actual LAN when running it. Of course it may sound a little better but we go for performance and reliability. Now if your having problems with your Ventrilo let me know but performance should be fine and it should be stable 100% besides when I reboot the box and the little downtime that may occur. Now also relize that all of our Ventrilos are currently in Washington DC so it may be a distant further then what your testing as well. We put them in DC because worldwide its the best location for those overseas as well.

[Patrick]

There is no 'LAN setting'. Basically, what he is indirectly telling you is that their network and/or bandwidth cannot support the higer quality codec(s). Now, this is based soley off assumption... However, it could also mean that the individual that you spoke with has no idea what he is talking about...

Another Theory: They may be mixing game servers with voice servers on the same machine judging by those machine specifications they claim to have(You simply don't need that power for Ventrilo server hosting). Which is a no-no in my opinion.

[Flagship]

The only higher setting that is on the Ventrilo is a LAN setting which by the creator is not recommended as it causes crashing and lockups on the Ventrilo if its not on a actual LAN when running it.

I said nothing of the sort. Yes, it will comsume more bandwidth, a lot more if you are jumping from 11Khz to 44Khz ( i.e. 4 times as much or more ) but it isn't going to crash no matter what environment you run it in.

I can think of several hosting companies who run servers at 44Khz that would tell you the same thing, the sample only effects one thing: The amount of bandwidth consumed. Those servers are rock solid no matter what codec / sample rate they run at.

[gometro33]

Hi. I'm sort of new to Ventrilo (at least new at hosting) and was wondering how much bandwidth is required to run a solid server (it doesn't have to be top notch) for me and some friends? This thread says a lot about more bandwidth as you raise the quality but I'd like to know how much more and how much more than what. Will my 384k upload on my cable connection be enough for say, 16 people? Also what sort of hardware is necessary to do this? Thanks in advance.

PS If this should be posted somewhere else, could you point me in the right direction? Thanks again.

[sp0n9e]

unless you are a server company and you bought a server from flagship, you cannot run more than 8 users simultaneously because most cable connections cannot serve that number of users.

[gometro33]

Can I only host 8 connections because I don't have enough bandwidth or is it because it is not allowed unless you buy it?

[mjgraf]

8 clients for the free version and if you need more please look here, http://www.ventrilo.com/hosting.php

[X-Gaming]

nrgservers offers both regular and high quality Ventrilo servers. The reason behind this is that with high quality, *some* lower-end users, such as Dial-Up or wireless networked; get cut-outs or 'lag'. That's probably why XGS does not offer high quality servers, because they are aiming towards performance. If they want everyone to have good performance, its best to ensure that you have the best quality possible, yet, without harming the lower end or wireless users.


There is some truth to this. We do not 'limit' our clients to what codec they wish to use but most times when someone asks for the highest codec they come right back saying some of their players are experiencing issues and would like it reset. It works fine for a portion but as you said some of the "lower end" users have problems..

90% of our users prefer the "middle" setting (GSM 6.10) which seems to work best for everyone.

Hope this helps!

[skorpeun]

I'm looking into setting up Ventrilo server for gaming and was wondering what the minimum recommended hardware setup would be and the number of users it would handle (I understand that with the free version there's only 8 possible, so I realize I'll have to purchase it.... ) Any suggestions/help is greatly appreciated.

[abuse]

Yes hiring the quality of your Ventrilo server will be more use of the bandwidth clientwise and serverwise. But it is well worth it, and not a big deal (or so I hear). If you want to know how, get me on my instant messagers.