If you’re serious about gaming, you can’t use just any old equipment. You need a special gaming computer, high-quality earphones, and a dedicated gaming server. Still think you can be a professional gamer running your own server at home? Keep reading to find out why you need a dedicated gaming server for your pro-gaming career.
Table of Contents
Six Frequently Asked Questions about Gaming Servers:
- How do game servers work?
- Why don’t pro gamers just use a home gaming server?
- What’s a dedicated hosting service?
- Why do pro gamers need a dedicated gaming server?
- What does dedicated IP hosting have to do with gaming?
- How do pro gamers choose the right dedicated hosting service?
How do game servers work?
If you’ve been gaming for a while, you probably already know how game servers work. In that case, feel free to skip to the next paragraph.
But, in case you don’t know how game servers work, here’s a crash course:
Multiplayer games wouldn’t work if every player’s computer had a completely different version of the game, right?
For example, if Player A’s computer told him that he’d just killed Player B, but Player B’s computer told him that he was, in fact, safely hidden behind a rosebush and not dead at all, that would be a huge paradox.
And computers hate paradoxes.
So instead, what happens is that the game server tells the other players’ computers which version of game events is true. This way, all players have the same gaming experience.
The server has to control important gaming information like where each player is on the map, what’s in each player’s inventory, which parts of the map each player’s already discovered, and which player just picked up the loot dropped by a mob. This is a lot of information to keep track of.
And now that you know how game servers work, you might think it’s a fine idea to host your games on your own home server. And lots of gamers do start out doing that – until they realise that it doesn’t work.
Why don’t pro gamers just use a home gaming server?
Home servers work fine for one or two players, but they tend to crack under pressure if they’re suddenly being accessed by the sheer army of players that make playing a MOBA really entertaining.
And, if you’re serious about gaming, you have to be entertaining. With the mass of gaming content that’s already out there, you can’t expect people to stick around to watch you game with your neighbour and two cousins.
There’s also the matter of cost. Running a home server can get expensive fast. Not only is there a high initial setup cost, but you also have to pay to maintain it.
And, when your server gets more popular, you’ll be the go-to spot for other serious gamers… and for hackers.
Hosting providers have the equipment and the know-how to avoid security breaches. But professional gamers don’t have time to work on improving their craft and protect their server from bored hackers. So, they use a dedicated hosting service.
What’s a dedicated hosting service?
A hosting service is a company that hosts servers. A dedicated hosting service lets people use dedicated servers (including dedicated game servers) in exchange for a relatively small fee. Hosting companies run servers that are designed to stay active all day and all night.
This is crucial for games that can go on indefinitely.
Why do pro gamers need a dedicated gaming server?
Servers work faster when they have fewer things to focus on. In the fast-paced gaming world, speed is everything. Gaming tournaments are won and lost in milliseconds.
If you use a dedicated game server, that server runs only your game. This gives you an eye-wateringly smooth, lag-free game.
There’s also the matter of security: Because your game is the only one using the dedicated server, dedicated hosting is also safer than any alternative. You’re not sharing the server with anyone else, so it’s not vulnerable to security risks posed by additional users, and you’re also not hosting the server at your home, where it’s vulnerable to DDoS attacks.
DDoS stands for Distributed Denial of Service, and it’s a nasty, malicious attack in which hackers flood a game’s servers with so many requests that the servers simply can’t perform anymore.
Nothing ruins a good time like your game suddenly screeching to a halt.
Your dedicated hosting service is prepared for these kinds of attacks. When you absolutely need your game to perform, your smartest bet is to choose a dedicated gaming server.
Why you need a dedicated IP hosting in gaming?
If you want to create your own gaming server, you need a dedicated IP address.
If you share your IP address with someone else, and that other person sends spam from your shared address, the address could be blacklisted, which would ruin your game.
The whole point of a dedicated gaming server is to make sure your game isn’t affected by external forces, whether those are hackers or people sharing your server.
Dedicated IP hosting gives you more control over these things, so they don’t slow down your game.
How to choose the right dedicated hosting service?
When you’re looking for a dedicated hosting service, don’t go with a company unless it offers these three things:
- Performance: Tell your hosting company that you want to use the server specifically for gaming. Ask whether their servers can be used for monetizing games.
- Reliability: Don’t choose a dedicated hosting service that offers anything less than 99.9% uptime.
- Support: If you wanted to be left on your own at the slightest sign of trouble, you’d have chosen a home server instead. Don’t choose a dedicated hosting service that doesn’t offer 24/7 support.
Wrap up
It takes years of training to be a pro gamer. Dedicated hosting is the first step towards taking your gaming seriously.
It’s time to get in on the most lucrative industry – online gaming. Start your own dedicated gaming server on hosting.co.uk now.
