#Local Server Machine Specs

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

flint mauve Nov 10, 2025, 10:42 AM

Hey guys, im working on a project where we are building a small scall social VR app for education. So far I am running the server builds locally on my machine so I can do quick iterations. In the next few weeks we want to start getting some of future users testing it so the server will need to run 24/7 so they can come and go as they want with a stable build of the app while i continue development locally.

For speed of deployment and to avoid any security blockers (our work machines are really locked down and IT is very slow to changes rules/policies) I'd like to run a local server, I WFH and have a 1gb FTTH connection and being able to run it on my local network and quickly transfer new builds over to it seems like a good solution rather than us paying a sub to something like digital ocean.

The app is being built for quest 3 and PC, currently it isnt that optimised apart from simple static batching, but I am using the dedicated server roles to strip out what the server runs(no renderers, audio, ui etc). I have a small server bootstrap scene that handles the connections and loads/unloads the environment scenes as needed.

We are expecting 15 groups of 5 users to be connecting, but they will be connecting to an instance of the game world so running multiple server instances could start eating up the memory usage. So we could have 15x5 (75) potentially online at the same time, though this is unlikely as I would expect them to be coming at different times depending on their schedules.

Is there guidelines for what spec of server we might need for this? Or a way I can profile the usage (system+network)currently when I connect 1 client and figure it from that?

Or, am I going about this the wrong way and should we just be looking at some cloud service? This is a funded project so while we do have budget for something like this, we dont have an infinite amount and im worried that exceeded allowances could cause huge bills. If you made it here, Thanks for reading 🙂

fiery obsidian Nov 10, 2025, 11:29 AM

You can use the Network Profiler to measure your bandwidth. Though I would seriously look into using Relay instead of dedicated servers.

If you are self hosting a Linux machine then as long as it's not a raspberry pi, you shouldn't run into any hardware limits. You might want to check with you ISP before hosting any servers though. I've heard some require business accounts to do so.

flint mauve Nov 10, 2025, 11:46 AM

Thanks, will check with ISP, hadnt thought about that but I suppose the traffic usage could spike some and draw attention to me...

From what I understand Relay is useful for connecting users (not known to each other) into a P2P session together, is that right?

Some more detail on our use-case. The app we're building has a major focus on user safety, due to the vulnerable backgrounds of the young people who will be using it. We had originally been building upon the Unity VR MP template as on the surface it had lots of what we need but as we got more specific to our bespoke requirements it seemed to point us away from it and towards a dedicated server.

The app will be free so anyone can download it, but you will not be able to create a session unless your account has been granted elevated privileges (police background checks, lots of admin stuff etc). Then that "educator" profile can create sessions and invite users to it). We want to limit each session to invite only, no chance of any unknowns finding their way in, and we'd like to avoid P2P as different educators can come and go from the session and dont want disconnections due to the host dropping out. Essentially the app should be "useless" to any user who isnt involved with us or our partners, either as an educator or student if that makes sense?

fiery obsidian Nov 10, 2025, 12:05 PM

Yea, that makes sense. While that could still be done with Cloud Services and Relay, dedicated servers make sense for limited access. Authentication and administration will probably be the hardest thing about this.

flint mauve Nov 10, 2025, 12:12 PM

Ya we're still trying to figure out the complete plan for the admin/access/authentication as we have other stakeholders/legal who need to get their input in. Ideally we'd have this earlier but im trying to architect the app as best I can so we can "slot" that in later once its all locked in...i know, I know im horribly optimistic person 😂

Thanks for your help though, ill check with ISP, and I do have an old-ish i7 laptop that isnt used. I might try that -put some users through it and profile it and figure out what we need to buy then.