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While working on my latest multiplayer game, I started thinking about dedicated server options. Up to now, I have set up dedicated server in windows using small form factor computers. This has worked fine, however, I have been considering ways to improve the efficiency of this setup.

Even a small form factor PC that is on constantly will use a reasonable amount of power, produce noise, etc.

Dedicated servers require little resources, and no graphics support, so it is a waste of a conventional PC to use it for this purpose.

I have been doing a lot of work with Arduino development boards in the recent past, and I got the idea some time ago to use one of the newer boards as a game server.

All of these boards use linux in one form or another, but thankfully, the latest releases of T3D MIT version have support for linux dedicated server builds (although not client builds).

The Arduino Yun is the first such product from the Arduino family that would be suitable for use as a server. However, it runs a stripped-down version of linux, and only has 64 MB’s of DDr2 RAM, and a 400MHZ processor. This is quite powerful for what it is, and would likely be able to run an SQL server or a Master Server, but I have my doubts as to whether it could run a dedicated server.

However, the upcoming (not yet released) Arduino Tre may address these doubts. The Tre features a complete install of linux, a very impressive 512 MB’s DDR3 RAM, and a 1GHZ processor. I see no reason at all why this couldn’t run a T3D dedicated server.

It would have the advantage of consuming significantly less power, producing less noise, and taking up less space than any small form factor PC. This could be a new direction for small game servers and home servers, and, with the Tre’s ability to interact directly with homemade electronics (like all development boards) it could open up fantastic new options!