What server architecture is appropriate for a multiplayer online game?

Question

For an online, multiplayer roleplaying game that should be able to support at least 1000 players per server instance, what sort of architecture should I use? I'd like to use Java or PHP as the server programming language (I know PHP is probably a poor choice). What sort of operating system, and server specs would I need for such a system?

score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered May 27 '09 at 08:05

Best known example is EVE Online, which uses Stackless Python. They have written they own server.

Their architecture described:

Generally I recommend reading highscalability.com, specially the real world examples.

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited May 27 '09 at 18:20

3

Since you're already doing Java, you might want to take a look at Sun's DarkStar project:

I don't know any commercial games using it (I believe it's still in development).

edited May 27 '09 at 18:20

mrdenny

27,212

answered May 27 '09 at 08:26

Jon Gilkison

31

What server architecture is appropriate for a multiplayer online game?

2 Answers2