Minimizing lag

[mads bahrt 0]

Hi

I'm connected through a small community ISP, which specializes in all students in my city. They connect most dorms in the city using ethernet, and provide access to the internet through ADSL and other lines. They now want to provide a better experience for gamers by dedicating a ADSL-connection to gaming. In order to make gaming traffic go over this line, they need to knpw which ports each gaming application uses.

In the topic http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin....1;st=15

there is listed a lot of ports used by OFP-servers, but which ones should be prioritized for best performance, and which ones doesn't matter?

[bn880 5]

Personally I have never heard of any ports being faster than others. Just make sure not to have two applications trying to use the same port.

[NZXSHADOWS 0]

Maybe you are talking about changing the speed of your ports?

[mads bahrt 0]

Dutchie posted this table in the thread I referred to.

Trigger Port Trigger Type Public Port Public Type Enabled

1. 2302 TCP 2302-2305 TCP Yes

2. 2392 UDP 2302-2305 UDP Yes

3. 27243 TCP 27243-27345 TCP Yes (ASE)

4. 27243 UDP 272243TCP UDP Yes (ASE)

5. 6073 TCP 6073,6500,6515 TCP Yes (GS) 6073 for DirectX

6. 47624 TCP 47624 TCP Yes ( for DirectX)

7. 28900 TCP 28900 TCP Yes (GS)

8. 29900 TCP 29900 TCP Yes (GS)

9. 13139 TCP 13139 TCP Yes (GS)

10.27900 TCP 27900 TCP Yes (GS)

That is quite a lot of ports and some of the traffic may not be that sensitive to latency. The ASE ports for instance is just used for administrative traffic related to the all seeing eye, and it really doensn't matter if a few extra milliseconds are added to the time the packet uses to travel the network. On the other hand I suppose that the ports 2302-2305 are used for exchanging time-sensitive information during the game, and therefore it might be a good idea to dedicate a seperate internet-connection to these ports, to ensure minimum latency.

What I want to know is whether my assumptions regarding which ports is used for timesensitive traffic is correct, and whether this setup might cause any problems.

Mads

[toadlife 3]

Ports have nothing to do with performance or throughput. They are basically just used to oraganize network traffic, and facilitate the use of your network conenction by multiple applications at the same time.

[toadlife 3]

Oh I see they are probably going to implement QOS (Quality of Service) on the network. The reason why they want to know the ports used for OFP is they can program their switches and routers to give prioroty to IP traffic on certain ports. QOS is the reason IP phone systems are able to be reliable on a volitile TCP/IP network.

The port you would want to give QOS to is port 2302. This is the default port the OFP Res uses.

[mads bahrt 0]

You're right - this is a crude way of implementing QOS based on portnumber. But what about 2303 - 2305 these are (to my information) also used for flashpoint but are they as lag-sensitive as they others? Would it be a problem if one client connected from different IP's which would be the result from not prioritizing all the OFP ports.

Anyone from BIS?

[toadlife 3]

But what about 2303 - 2305 these are (to my information) also used for flashpoint but are they as lag-sensitive as they others?

Actually ANY port (from 1-65535) can be used for OFP servers. 2032 is just the default. Many people use ports 2303-2305 to keep from being detected by automated scanners, or maybe just to be 'different'.

They might want to implement QOS for a few ports 2032-2305 and just let people know which ports they need to use for their server in order to gain the benefits of the QOS.

[benu 1]

And other games do use other ports (not sure if this is important but you mentioned other games or games in general)...

[mads bahrt 0]

Actually ANY port (from 1-65535) can be used for OFP servers. 2032 is just the default. Many people use ports 2303-2305 to keep from being detected by automated scanners, or maybe just to be 'different'.

I know - this way of implementing QOS isn't perfect. But for most servers out there, it would improve performance. But back to my original question: Which ports are actually used for sending timesensitive data? (My hope is to get a exact reply from someone at BIS)

[mads bahrt 0]

And other games do use other ports (not sure if this is important but you mentioned other games or games in general)...

I know - the users who want to play those games can research this for themselves and report their results to the ISP.

[toadlife 3]

Which ports are actually used for sending timesensitive data?

2302! Really. BIS isn't going to give you a different answer.

Quoted from the Dedicated server admin guide (from BIS)...

Quote[/b] ]

Firewall issues

If you want to run your server behind firewall you need to open and/or forward following incoming ports:

port UDP (used for game)

port+1 UDP (used for server reporting)

Following outgoing ports need to be open as well:

port UDP (used for game)

port+1 UDP (used for server reporting)

Default value of port is 2302, but you may change it by -port command line argument.

[mads bahrt 0]

Which ports are actually used for sending timesensitive data?

2302! Really. BIS isn't going to give you a different answer.

Quoted from the Dedicated server admin guide (from BIS)...

Quote[/b] ]

Firewall issues

If you want to run your server behind firewall you need to open and/or forward following incoming ports:

port UDP (used for game)

port+1 UDP (used for server reporting)

Following outgoing ports need to be open as well:

port UDP (used for game)

port+1 UDP (used for server reporting)

Default value of port is 2302, but you may change it by -port command line argument.

According to your own post the port 2303 is used for server reporting - would it improve performance in any way to prioritize traffic on this port in addition to 2302?

Would it be a problem if one client connected from one IP on port 2302 and another IP on port 2303? (Which would be the result since the prioritized ports are on a different connection.)

[toadlife 3]

Quote[/b] ]According to your own post the port 2303 is used for server reporting - would it improve performance in any way to prioritize traffic on this port in addition to 2302?

Server reporting means reporting it's status to places like gamespy - it has nothing to do with the actually gameplay data transfered between the clients (players) and the server. If you set up your server to run on port 2303, the server will report to gamespy (the default reporting address) on port 2304. I can't see any reason why reporting traffic should be prioritized.

If I was the ISP, I would set up QOS for all packets with a source or destination of 2302, and let people know that if they want the benefits of the QOS for their OFP server, they must run their server on the default port (2302). This would keep things simple for the ISP and server operators.

Quote[/b] ]Would it be a problem if one client connected from one IP on port 2302 and another IP on port 2303? (Which would be the result since the prioritized ports are on a different connection.)

No. Clients must all connect to a server via the same port - the port the server is running on. For example, when a server is set up on port 2303, All clients will conenct to the server via port 2303 and all data between the clients and server will be transmitted over port 2303. 2304 would only be used between the server and reporting address (gamespy).

Hope that clears everything up for you.

[mads bahrt 0]

I'll answer your post in a different order than it's written in, since I think it will clear things up.:

Quote[/b] ]

If I was the ISP, I would set up QOS for all packets with a source or destination of 2302, and let people know that if they want the benefits of the QOS for their OFP server, they must run their server on the default port (2302). This would keep things simple for the ISP and server operators.

I must not have made this clear enough: These lines will only be used by clients connecting to servers on the Internet. It isn't possible to run a server on this ISP. Therefore it is only the destination address of the outgoing packets which are interesting.

Quote[/b] ]Server reporting means reporting it's status to places like gamespy - it has nothing to do with the actually gameplay data transfered between the clients (players) and the server.

Are you sure about this? This is an inbound port on the - which means it is open for the reason that someone outside (who might be gamespy) should be able to contact the server. If the server itself wants to contact gamespy it could just send on any given port, and the router in front of it would forward the packet to gamespy.

Actually - according to the table i quoted earlier the server actually communicates with gamespy on many other ports:

Quote[/b] ] Trigger Port Trigger Type Public Port Public Type Enabled

1. 2302 TCP 2302-2305 TCP Yes

2. 2392 UDP 2302-2305 UDP Yes

3. 27243 TCP 27243-27345 TCP Yes (ASE)

4. 27243 UDP 272243TCP UDP Yes (ASE)

5. 6073 TCP 6073,6500,6515 TCP Yes (GS) 6073 for DirectX

6. 47624 TCP 47624 TCP Yes ( for DirectX)

7. 28900 TCP 28900 TCP Yes (GS)

8. 29900 TCP 29900 TCP Yes (GS)

9. 13139 TCP 13139 TCP Yes (GS)

10.27900 TCP 27900 TCP Yes (GS)

All those ports with a (GS) in the end is supposed to be ports on which the server communicates with gamespy.

The only reason (I can see) for a server to have an inbound port for communication with gamespy would be if gamespy had to send anything to the server. Granted - it might be that gamespy is polling all connected servers for information, and I don't say that is not the case. But on the other hand - how do you know that "server reporting" is communicating with gamespy - it might as well be the clients reporting something to the server.

Quote[/b] ]No. Clients must all connect to a server via the same port - the port the server is running on. For example, when a server is set up on port 2303, All clients will conenct to the server via port 2303 and all data between the clients and server will be transmitted over port 2303. 2304 would only be used btween the server and reporting address (gamespy).

No - here you are (generally speaking) straight wrong: A client might connect to a server on several ports. That just depends on how many ports the server program is designed to use. The OFP server program might communicate with the clients using only one port - but it is not a general fact. Actually I am not convinced that the OFP server doesn't user the "server reporting" port for clients exchanging non-gaming information with the server program.

[toadlife 3]

Quote[/b] ]I must not have made this clear enough: These lines will only be used by clients connecting to servers on the Internet. It isn't possible to run a server on this ISP. Therefore it is only the destination address of the outgoing packets which are interesting.

I didn't realize this. You ISP should just give precendence to any packet with the UDP protocol instead of fiddleing with ports. This would help anyone who plays online games on their network.

If they want to do it by port, it can optimize all incoming and outgoing UDP trafic over port 2304. From my testing, clients allways send and recive data via port 2304, regardless of what port the server is on.

Quote[/b] ]Are you sure about this? This is an inbound port on the - which means it is open for the reason that someone outside (who might be gamespy) should be able to contact the server.

Yes I'm sure.

Quote[/b] ]If the server itself wants to contact gamespy it could just send on any given port, and the router in front of it would forward the packet to gamespy.

Quote[/b] ]Actually - according to the table i quoted earlier the server actually communicates with gamespy on many other ports:

Who cares which ports servers or clients communicate with gamespy and ASE on. Gamespy and ASE have nothing to do with gameplay.

Quote[/b] ]But on the other hand - how do you know that "server reporting" is communicating with gamespy - it might as well be the clients reporting something to the server.

I know, because I run a dedicated server myself and have run protocol analyzers on the machine and seen exactly who my server was communicating with and how it was communicating.

My server runs on port 2302. From home, I can set up a IpSec policy on my machine that blocks all traffic except outgoing traffic to port 2302 and incoming traffic from 2302. With this policy in place, I can connect to, adminster, and play on my dedicated server.

If you want to know the port in clients connect to the server from, it allways seem to be port 2304.

Quote[/b] ]No - here you are (generally speaking) straight wrong: A client might connect to a server on several ports. That just depends on how many ports the server program is designed to use. The OFP server program might communicate with the clients using only one port - but it is not a general fact. Actually I am not convinced that the OFP server doesn't user the "server reporting" port for clients exchanging non-gaming information with the server program.

Sorry, but I'm not going to argue the rules of TCP/IP networking with you anymore.

[Skunk Monkey 0]

mads.

I checked my firewall rules that allow me to play OFP.

I'm no interent wizard but my firewall only allows me to play OFP if

the remote port is 2303

the local port is 15015 or 15020

and protocol is UDP/IP

Dont ask me to explain this ....

[mads bahrt 0]

Quote[/b] ]I didn't realize this. You ISP should just give precendence to any packet with the UDP protocol instead of fiddleing with ports. This would help anyone who plays online games on their network.

If they want to do it by port, it can optimize all incoming and outgoing UDP trafic over port 2304. From my testing, clients allways send and recive data via port 2304, regardless of what port the server is on.

They'll have to do it by port - otherwise all the audio and videostreaming will compete for the bandwidth meant for gaming.

Quote[/b] ]

Quote[/b] ]Are you sure about this? This is an inbound port on the - which means it is open for the reason that someone outside (who might be gamespy) should be able to contact the server.

Yes I'm sure.

Based on what arguments?

Quote[/b] ]I know, because I run a dedicated server myself and have run protocol analyzers on the machine and seen exactly who my server was communicating with and how it was communicating.

My server runs on port 2302. From home, I can set up a IpSec policy on my machine that blocks all traffic except outgoing traffic to port 2302 and incoming traffic from 2302. With this policy in place, I can connect to, adminster, and play on my dedicated server.

If you want to know the port in clients connect to the server from, it allways seem to be port 2304.

Ok - thats the argument I was looking for - you've tested and made some conclusions. I am convinced.

[toadlife 3]

Quote[/b] ]They'll have to do it by port - otherwise all the audio and videostreaming will compete for the bandwidth meant for gaming.

True. Peoples' porno video streams don't need any priority.