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CPU or RAM: which one is actually holding your server back
Memory is what gets sold and clock speed is usually what limits you. How to tell them apart in thirty seconds, and what to do about each.
Эта статья пока на английском. Мы её переводим.
Hosting is sold by memory because memory is easy to count. Most game servers are limited by single-thread CPU performance instead, which is why adding gigabytes to a stuttering server so often changes nothing at all.
Telling them apart
If memory is the problem you will see it in the logs: garbage collection pauses, allocation failures, an out-of-memory kill. If the CPU is the problem the memory graph is calm and the tick rate is not. The two look identical to players and nothing alike in the numbers.
- Memory-bound: rising usage, long pauses, crashes that name memory.
- CPU-bound: steady memory, tick or frame time above budget, worse with more entities.
- Disk-bound: hitches on a schedule, which is a save rather than either of the above.
What to do
Memory problems are solved by a bigger plan. CPU problems are solved by doing less work: fewer entities, a smaller view distance, fewer plugins on a timer. Sometimes a faster machine helps, but the cheapest fix is nearly always the work you can stop doing.