Your own servers: AWS EC2 and Lightsail

A server that never sleeps

Co-op Hyper Shards needs a game server: a program that runs each match tick by tick and keeps a live connection open to every pilot (see Multiplayer: who decides what happened?).

Our current tools aren't built for that. Cloud Functions wake up for one short job and finish. Firestore stores data; it doesn't run a game. Cloudflare serves our files. A game server must keep running for as long as players are in a match. So, for the first time, the studio might need a computer of its own.

Managed or your own?

• Managed and serverlessFirebase, Cloud Functions and Cloudflare. The provider runs the machines, the operating system, the updates and the scaling. We bring code and data, and pay for what we use.
• A virtual server you rentA virtual machine: a slice of a huge physical computer that acts like a whole computer, with its own operating system. You choose what runs on it, and you look after it.

Serverless doesn't mean there are no servers. It means the servers are someone else's job.

AWS EC2: computers by the second

AWS (Amazon Web Services) is Amazon's cloud. Its EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) rents virtual servers called instances.

• You start from an AMI (Amazon Machine Image), a template with an operating system, like Linux, already installed.
• The instance type picks the hardware: a balance of processor, memory, storage and network.
• On-Demand pricing bills by the hour or the second (minimum 60 seconds), with no long-term contract.

Auto Scaling can add and remove instances as players come and go. A server left on all month is billed all month, even with zero players.

Who looks after what?

AWS calls the split the shared responsibility model. AWS looks after the buildings, the physical machines and the network between them. On an EC2 instance, the customer manages the operating system, including updates and security patches, all the software they install, and the firewall, which AWS calls a security group.

A security patch fixes a weakness attackers could use. Automated bots probe servers on the internet all day, so an unpatched server is an open door.

Lightsail: the simpler box

Amazon Lightsail is AWS's simpler way to rent a server. AWS calls it the easiest way to get started with AWS for websites and web apps.

A Lightsail instance is a virtual private server sold as a bundle: memory, processors, SSD storage and a data transfer allowance, for a low, predictable monthly price. Sending out more data than the allowance costs extra, and snapshots make backups.

It's still your server, so patching is still your job. Prices change, so check the current price on AWS's Lightsail pricing page.

The hidden costs

• PatchesSomeone checks for security updates and installs them, for as long as the server runs.
• BackupsSnapshots must be set up, tested and paid for. A backup nobody has tried to restore may not work.
• Someone on callIf the server crashes at 2 a.m. during a weekend event, a person has to wake up and fix it.
• An adult's accountAWS doesn't sell to children: under-18s may use it only with a parent or guardian involved, and sign-up asks for a payment card. So a parent opens the account and accepts AWS's customer agreement, a contract, and you build in it together.

The rent is only part of the bill. A server also costs time, every week.

Other roads to the same goal

Other clouds rent virtual machines too, such as Google Cloud's Compute Engine and Microsoft's Azure Virtual Machines. There is also a middle ground: Cloudflare Durable Objects can act as WebSocket servers (a WebSocket is a connection that stays open both ways) that coordinate many players, for chat rooms or multiplayer games, with no machine to patch.

Our rule: stay managed until a feature truly needs a server running all the time. Next: the full fight against cheaters.

Bolt says: Before renting a server, ask the team: who will patch it, back it up and wake up when it breaks?