Server slots#

Server slots are logical segments of resources on a machine dedicated to a single instance of a game server binary. The game server binary can change, but the server slot that a game server binary runs within remains the same. When a matchmaker allocates a game server to a game session, it allocates a specific server slot on a machine within a fleet. This server slot has access to resources from the host machine, such as RAM and CPU time, and a game server binary.

Game Server Hosting calculates the number of server slots per machine based on the resource usage per game server and the resources available on the machine with the goal of keeping cost-efficiency without losing performance. Game Server Hosting achieves this optimal number by running a suite of tests on the game server binary and gathering information about the resources the game server binary uses in the worst-case scenario. Accordingly, if a game server experiences a spike in resource consumption, it’s less likely to affect the other game servers on the machine.

Best available server#

During allocation processing, Game Server Hosting needs to find the best available server from the available server pool. At this point, the matchmaker has already decided on the server's region (based on QoS), so the remaining task is to find the cheapest available server. This is done by allocating the least costly (ideally, bare metal) "hot machine".