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Network configuration
Author
I have 3 computers (all 3Com 100Mb powerhouses) What possible network configurations can I come up with (IP''s, subnets)? Two of the machines have 2 network cards and the other machine has one network card.
Well, what do you want to do?
If you''re setting up a lab to experiment, here are some possibilities:
Any of the machines with 2 cards can be set up to be a router or provide NAT. Also, you can set up software firewalls on any of those as well.
You know what, I think it''s better to wait and hear what you want to do with it all? Experiment, set up a LAN at home, etc. To be honest, there is a lot you could do.
R.
If you''re setting up a lab to experiment, here are some possibilities:
Any of the machines with 2 cards can be set up to be a router or provide NAT. Also, you can set up software firewalls on any of those as well.
You know what, I think it''s better to wait and hear what you want to do with it all? Experiment, set up a LAN at home, etc. To be honest, there is a lot you could do.
R.
Author
I am finalizing some network code in my mmorpg and wanted to setup a network to test it on. The original configuration I had was putting three of the cards on one subnet and the second card in the two machines on another subnet. Then have one of the be the (DNS, Router) and the other run the servers.
Ok.
I''d take one of the multi-homed machines (Multi-homed means more than one NIC) and turn that into a router/firewall/NAT depending on what you want to test. You''ll have to scrounge up some software. Windows 2K Server supports NAT and has basic firewall filtering built in. Linux has IPtables/IPChains.
You might also consider writing you own simple "lag" program depending on your time and concerns. You could then "simulate" high latency in your environment. You would just need to write a basic program to take packets on one side of your router and hold it for a brief time before sending back out the other side. You might even be able to find a program though google or on the web as well. I know of some enterprise lag creators, but they''re expensive.
Other than that, you seem like you''re on track. Keep the DNS on your router, and consider that some players might be behind a NAT firewall (pretty common now since many people share their DSL or Cable modems to multiple computers at home). You might want to make sure your network code allows for some method to handle more than one computer behind a NAT gateway, almost always comes up in online multiplayer games at some point =). You can do this by giving the client some method to define a source port to bind to, and then letting your server send to that port. You can then set up NAT to forward to that port, so you could support two client on different ports behind a NAT.
You might want to consider getting a free sniffer program and seeing if you can see critical information on the wire in your game. You might also want to get a program to use up CPU cycles on your game server, to see how the server works under heavy CPU load or even memory usage.
I might be getting ahead of you here, sorry =) I would definitely look into getting some sort of sniffer/packet capture software on the router you set up. You might need it to debug or track down where you code bugs are while you finish up you code. Just being able to see the headers in the TCP packets might help you deduce where you made a mistake (client or server, what part of the code, etc).
Feel free to drop more thoughts and I''ll bounce them around with you.
R.
I''d take one of the multi-homed machines (Multi-homed means more than one NIC) and turn that into a router/firewall/NAT depending on what you want to test. You''ll have to scrounge up some software. Windows 2K Server supports NAT and has basic firewall filtering built in. Linux has IPtables/IPChains.
You might also consider writing you own simple "lag" program depending on your time and concerns. You could then "simulate" high latency in your environment. You would just need to write a basic program to take packets on one side of your router and hold it for a brief time before sending back out the other side. You might even be able to find a program though google or on the web as well. I know of some enterprise lag creators, but they''re expensive.
Other than that, you seem like you''re on track. Keep the DNS on your router, and consider that some players might be behind a NAT firewall (pretty common now since many people share their DSL or Cable modems to multiple computers at home). You might want to make sure your network code allows for some method to handle more than one computer behind a NAT gateway, almost always comes up in online multiplayer games at some point =). You can do this by giving the client some method to define a source port to bind to, and then letting your server send to that port. You can then set up NAT to forward to that port, so you could support two client on different ports behind a NAT.
You might want to consider getting a free sniffer program and seeing if you can see critical information on the wire in your game. You might also want to get a program to use up CPU cycles on your game server, to see how the server works under heavy CPU load or even memory usage.
I might be getting ahead of you here, sorry =) I would definitely look into getting some sort of sniffer/packet capture software on the router you set up. You might need it to debug or track down where you code bugs are while you finish up you code. Just being able to see the headers in the TCP packets might help you deduce where you made a mistake (client or server, what part of the code, etc).
Feel free to drop more thoughts and I''ll bounce them around with you.
R.
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