Cheap Dedicated Server -Solaris Zones Dedicated Server Setup

Solaris Zones Dedicated Server Setup

Why run a gmod server on Solaris x64?

Now that binaries are available for Linux, we can use the Solaris Zones and BrandZ technologies to run multiple 32-bit Linux-compatible "Zones" within one server. Multi-core servers are getting cheaper and Garry's Mod only makes use of one core. If you are a server provider and wish to save money on datacenter power, you can use this guide to consolidate four or more GMod servers onto one box without the overhead of other virtualization schemes such as VMWare, which use a lot of resources running multiple operating systems. With less power consumption, you can cut your datacenter costs and offer a lower price-per-slot without any loss of gaming performance.
Who is this for?

    Hosting providers that want to get price per slot down
    Anyone interested in using Solaris to host one or more GMod servers simultaneously with very tiny overhead
    Small communities with one multi-core server wanting to run multiple source games

Scenario

x64 Server, 10GB RAM, Quad core or i7 class hardware
Goal
To install OpenSolaris as the base OS, then to create one or more Linux-branded virtual "Zones" and run a GMod server in each of them as though they were separate servers.
For now, we will assume you have already installed Solaris or OpenSolaris
"Pingboosting" Solaris

If you want to run the server's kernel timer more quickly, edit /etc/system and add the following lines:

set hires_tick=1
set hires_hz=1000

Then reboot. You can set hires_hz to many different values, play with it to find the best one for your server. 300, 500 and 1000 are good values for low latency servicing of incoming game events from clients - the default is 100 which is good for processing but slower for responding.
Disabling the GNOME Graphical Interface (it wastes RAM and a little CPU when you just want a game server)

Disable command:

pfexec svcadm disable gdm

Enable command:

pfexec svcadm enable gdm

Setting up a Linux-binary-compatible 'Zone'

Repeat these instructions (the rest of the page) for as many zones (as many Source Dedicated Server instances) as you require - I recommend one per CPU maximum.

Log in as root, then run the following command to create a new zone.

cd /etc/zones
wget http://hub.opensolaris.org/bin/download/Community+Group+brandz/linux_2_6/SUNWlx26.xml


You now have 4 options. Pick only one of them

    Download the stripped-down CentOS 5.5 Image created by me using vmware from http://www.yourfilelink.com/get.php?fid=549137
    http://download.openvz.org/template/precreated/centos-5-x86.tar.gz
    Download one of the other pre-created images from the same site: http://download.openvz.org/template/precreated/
    Create your own CentOS 5 image to use as the gmod zone. Follow the instructions here: http://hub.opensolaris.org/bin/view/Community+Group+brandz/linux_2_6 (Under: Installing and Booting CentOS [45].x)

You will need to copy it to your Solaris server using

scp centos-image-you-just-downloaded.tar.bz2 username@hostname:~

...where username is a normal non-root user on your server.
Configuring a new Zone

zonecfg -z gmodserver1
create -t SUNWlx26
set zonepath=/export/gmodserver1
add net
set address=192.168.1.10/24          (pick an IP address and netmask to use for your new zone. a netmask of /24 is equal to 255.255.255.0)
set physical=e1000g0                 (use your own ethernet interface here, to find out what it is called, run "ifconfig -a in another terminal"
end
commit
exit

Install the Linux image into the new zone.

zoneadm -z gmodserver1 install -d /export/home/<your user>/centos-image-you-downloaded.tar.bz2

Check to see whether the new image is in the list

zoneadm list -iv

Boot the Zone

zoneadm -z gmodserver1 boot

Check to see whether the new image is running

zoneadm list -iv

Log in to the new zone

zlogin gmodserver1

Edit the Zone's Network settings

vi /etc/sysconfig/network

be sure to include the following text: NETWORKING=yes HOSTNAME=gmodserver1

Place your DNS servers into /etc/resolv.conf

vi /etc/resolv.conf

It should look something like:
nameserver x.x.x.x
nameserver y.y.y.y

...where x.x.x.x and y.y.y.y are your nameservers Now, follow the Linux Install Guide to set up the server.

(More to follow, I'm still writing this - stuff about Binding to one CPU per Zone and RAM allocation coming next - philxyz)