Where are the game servers located? - Guild Wars Forums

Perkunas · Dec 14, 2008, 01:04 AM // 01:04

The reason I am asking is the following:

0 xxxxxx-96c53591
1 isp1.grm.net
2 customer111_206.grm.net
3 65.255.143.9
4 65.255.143.205
5 ge-6-22.car2.KansasCity1.Level3.net [4.53.34.1]
6 ae-11-11.car1.KansasCity1.Level3.net [4.69.135.233]
7 ae-5-5.ebr2.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.135.230]
8 ae-72-72.csw2.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.136.142]
9 ae-73-73.ebr3.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.136.157]
10 ae-7.ebr3.Atlanta2.Level3.net [4.69.134.22]
11 ae-2.ebr1.Washington1.Level3.net [4.69.132.86]
12 ae-71-71.csw2.Washington1.Level3.net [4.69.134.134]
13 ae-72-72.ebr2.Washington1.Level3.net [4.69.134.149]
14 ae-43.ebr2.Paris1.Level3.net [4.69.137.57]
15 ae-2-2.ebr1.Frankfurt1.Level3.net [4.69.132.142]
16 ae-61-61.csw1.Frankfurt1.Level3.net [4.69.140.2]
17 ae-11-69.car1.Frankfurt1.Level3.net [4.68.23.3]
18 62.67.33.218
19 206-127-156-82.plaync.com [206.127.156.82]
20 206-127-145-228.plaync.com [206.127.145.228]

This is the route taken to reach the servers. Quite probably the cause of some of my recent lag.

SmartBomb · Dec 14, 2008, 02:37 AM // 02:37

Haha, I just desperately hope they know what they're doing.

Jongal · Dec 14, 2008, 03:31 AM // 03:31

rest assured the ping isn't better if you are in germany

Lykan · Dec 14, 2008, 03:42 AM // 03:42

How do you get this info?

Perkunas · Dec 14, 2008, 03:53 AM // 03:53

To get info, before you log in, click "test my computer".

moriz · Dec 14, 2008, 04:35 AM // 04:35

the american server is located in texas. don't know about the other ones.

Siirius Black · Dec 14, 2008, 04:48 AM // 04:48

still I get a lot of bad lag lately.

*Darcy* · Dec 14, 2008, 12:50 PM // 12:50

I would like to point out that ArenaNet/NCSoft has no control over the route your computer takes to reach their servers.

That is controlled by the service contracts between different suppliers and gateways.

Quaker · Dec 14, 2008, 03:47 PM // 15:47

Since that tracer route was during "test my computer", it may be (and appears to be) the route to a PlayNC server that handles the testing. It may not necessarily be the route to the game servers.

It does point out though, the number of various places that the route goes through to get anywhere. Like Darcy says above, ANet has no control over the routing decisions your computer takes to get there.

Perkunas · Dec 14, 2008, 09:55 PM // 21:55

I know ANet doesn't establish the route. I find it a bit silly to go to Texas from Missouri via Frankfurt, Germany. A nonstop "flight" would be nice.

*Darcy* · Dec 15, 2008, 12:54 AM // 00:54

It could have been Paris, Kentucky and Frankfurt, Tennessee.

ne33us · Dec 15, 2008, 01:10 AM // 01:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perkunas

I know ANet doesn't establish the route. I find it a bit silly to go to Texas from Missouri via Frankfurt, Germany. A nonstop "flight" would be nice.

Going to Texas from Missouri seemed to be the fastest "route" at the time.
Try out this link http://www.traceroute.org/ using U.S.A. servers and foreign servers and you will notice that there are alternative "routes" to/from your location. Anyway I wouldn't trust those FQDNs that much nowadays.

You seem to have proven one thing. The "test my computer" is using a single European server for all GW clients/players no matter where they are located, which is not very informative for the U.S.A. players, unless, it serves some other functionality I'm not aware of.

Nice Internet resources
http://lacnic.net/cgi-bin/lacnic/whois?lg=EN
http://whatismyipaddress.com/
http://www.traceroute.org/

Perkunas · Dec 15, 2008, 06:30 AM // 06:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darcy

It could have been Paris, Kentucky and Frankfurt, Tennessee.

True. It also went to Dallas then back out.

Yang Whirlwind · Dec 15, 2008, 10:33 AM // 10:33

When you sent information through the Internet, such as e-mails, it is broken into smaller "packages" which are sent separately and "reassembled" upon arrival. Some of these packages might well be sent through China, though the receiver is in the same country as you. This all depends on traffic and availability of routers at the time.
I have no knowledge of the method GW uses for transmitting data, but unless it differs greatly, this might well explain the circumvent routes people experience.

ne33us · Dec 15, 2008, 03:50 PM // 15:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yang Whirlwind

When you sent information through the Internet, such as e-mails, it is broken into smaller "packages" which are sent separately and "reassembled" upon arrival. Some of these packages might well be sent through China, though the receiver is in the same country as you. This all depends on traffic and availability of routers at the time.
I have no knowledge of the method GW uses for transmitting data, but unless it differs greatly, this might well explain the circumvent routes people experience.

What you describe is P2P torrent and all the alike protocols traffic, which also involves multiple "senders" of the same information and a single "reassembler" of what has been received.

Http, Ftp, smtp and the rest the "good old" protocols can't and won't ever juggle packets like that. Gw is not a juggler either.

Fortunately "the network" uses the most efficient "route" between two endpoints which have "negotiated" a connection, and it sticks with that route no matter what because it is simple... the best.
And there is no reason to start shiping packets all over the world just because it there may be multiple routes available.

Quaker · Dec 15, 2008, 04:00 PM // 16:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by ne33us

You seem to have proven one thing. The "test my computer" is using a single European server for all GW clients/players no matter where they are located, which is not very informative for the U.S.A. players, unless, it serves some other functionality I'm not aware of.

What functionality did you think it had? The "test my computer" thing is mostly design to make sure your computer has the required hardware to play GW and to make sure you have a good internet connection. If you can connect to Europe, you have a good internet connection.
It's not designed to test your ping to any particular game server. You can do that once you have passed the "Test my computer" and start up the game.

ne33us · Jan 09, 2009, 08:04 PM // 20:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaker

What functionality did you think it had? The "test my computer" thing is mostly design to make sure your computer has the required hardware to play GW and to make sure you have a good internet connection. If you can connect to Europe, you have a good internet connection.
It's not designed to test your ping to any particular game server. You can do that once you have passed the "Test my computer" and start up the game.

This is a (way too) late answer

THe topic is "Where are the game servers located?" so it seems that, testing against an E.U. server, lead at least one player to wonder if that is right for him/her since s/he is located in U.S.A.

On the other hand that same test seemed completely normal to me since I'm located in E.U. But I would also be wondering if my test was against a U.S.A. server

I agree that the test is not about "ping" but it is surely an obvious way to locate latencies on the network and pinpoint who is to be blamed for those latencies.

For example, if between my machine and my ISPs machine I have 400ms latency then my line is heavily used somehow and that is something I must resolve asap

Quaker · Jan 09, 2009, 08:41 PM // 20:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by ne33us

The topic is "Where are the game servers located?" so it seems that, testing against an E.U. server, lead at least one player to wonder if that is right for him/her since s/he is located in U.S.A.

Well, my take on it is ..... the OP used "Test My Computer" and he thought (not unreasonably) that the route would be to the game servers. But, it appears that the part of TMC that tests your internet connection only tests your throughput while connecting to a server in the EU. It would seem that TMC figures if you have good throughput to Europe, your internet connection is good enough to play the game smoothly.

Unfortunately, for the OP (and others), this does not test your connection to any particular game server. But on the other hand, if you are having problems with a particular game server and the TMC is OK, then the problem usually is a "routing issue". If you've read any of the tech sections on here, you'll know that many people don't understand the whole "routing" concept and every time they have lag, they blame ANet.

moriz · Jan 10, 2009, 12:22 AM // 00:22

TMC tests ALL the servers, right after one another.

Dec 14, 2008, 01:04 AM // 01:04	#1
Perkunas Jungle Guide Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: In my own little world, looking at yours Guild: Only Us[NotU] Profession: E/	Where are the game servers located? The reason I am asking is the following: 0 xxxxxx-96c53591 1 isp1.grm.net 2 customer111_206.grm.net 3 65.255.143.9 4 65.255.143.205 5 ge-6-22.car2.KansasCity1.Level3.net [4.53.34.1] 6 ae-11-11.car1.KansasCity1.Level3.net [4.69.135.233] 7 ae-5-5.ebr2.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.135.230] 8 ae-72-72.csw2.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.136.142] 9 ae-73-73.ebr3.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.136.157] 10 ae-7.ebr3.Atlanta2.Level3.net [4.69.134.22] 11 ae-2.ebr1.Washington1.Level3.net [4.69.132.86] 12 ae-71-71.csw2.Washington1.Level3.net [4.69.134.134] 13 ae-72-72.ebr2.Washington1.Level3.net [4.69.134.149] 14 ae-43.ebr2.Paris1.Level3.net [4.69.137.57] 15 ae-2-2.ebr1.Frankfurt1.Level3.net [4.69.132.142] 16 ae-61-61.csw1.Frankfurt1.Level3.net [4.69.140.2] 17 ae-11-69.car1.Frankfurt1.Level3.net [4.68.23.3] 18 62.67.33.218 19 206-127-156-82.plaync.com [206.127.156.82] 20 206-127-145-228.plaync.com [206.127.145.228] This is the route taken to reach the servers. Quite probably the cause of some of my recent lag.

Dec 14, 2008, 12:50 PM // 12:50	#8
Darcy Never Too Old Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Rhode Island where there are no GW contests Guild: Order of First Profession: W/R	I would like to point out that ArenaNet/NCSoft has no control over the route your computer takes to reach their servers. That is controlled by the service contracts between different suppliers and gateways. __________________ That's me, the old stick-in-the-mud non-fun moderator. (and non-understanding, also)

Dec 15, 2008, 12:54 AM // 00:54	#11
Darcy Never Too Old Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Rhode Island where there are no GW contests Guild: Order of First Profession: W/R	It could have been Paris, Kentucky and Frankfurt, Tennessee. __________________ That's me, the old stick-in-the-mud non-fun moderator. (and non-understanding, also)

Dec 14, 2008, 02:37 AM // 02:37	#2
SmartBomb Academy Page Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Illinois Guild: Necropolis Warlords Profession: R/Mo	Haha, I just desperately hope they know what they're doing.

Dec 14, 2008, 03:31 AM // 03:31	#3
Jongal Academy Page Join Date: Jan 2008	rest assured the ping isn't better if you are in germany

Dec 14, 2008, 03:42 AM // 03:42	#4
Lykan Forge Runner Join Date: May 2005 Guild: StP Profession: R/	How do you get this info?

Dec 14, 2008, 03:53 AM // 03:53	#5
Perkunas Jungle Guide Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: In my own little world, looking at yours Guild: Only Us[NotU] Profession: E/	To get info, before you log in, click "test my computer".

Dec 14, 2008, 04:35 AM // 04:35	#6
moriz ??ber t??k-n??sh'??n Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Canada Profession: R/	the american server is located in texas. don't know about the other ones.

Dec 14, 2008, 04:48 AM // 04:48	#7
Siirius Black Krytan Explorer Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: The Dragon's Lair Guild: La Legion Del Dragon Profession: E/	still I get a lot of bad lag lately.

Dec 14, 2008, 03:47 PM // 15:47	#9
Quaker Hell's Protector Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Canada Guild: Brothers Disgruntled	Since that tracer route was during "test my computer", it may be (and appears to be) the route to a PlayNC server that handles the testing. It may not necessarily be the route to the game servers. It does point out though, the number of various places that the route goes through to get anywhere. Like Darcy says above, ANet has no control over the routing decisions your computer takes to get there.

Dec 14, 2008, 09:55 PM // 21:55	#10
Perkunas Jungle Guide Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: In my own little world, looking at yours Guild: Only Us[NotU] Profession: E/	I know ANet doesn't establish the route. I find it a bit silly to go to Texas from Missouri via Frankfurt, Germany. A nonstop "flight" would be nice.

Dec 15, 2008, 10:33 AM // 10:33	#14
Yang Whirlwind ~ Retired ~ Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark (GMT +1) Profession: E/	When you sent information through the Internet, such as e-mails, it is broken into smaller "packages" which are sent separately and "reassembled" upon arrival. Some of these packages might well be sent through China, though the receiver is in the same country as you. This all depends on traffic and availability of routers at the time. I have no knowledge of the method GW uses for transmitting data, but unless it differs greatly, this might well explain the circumvent routes people experience.

Jan 10, 2009, 12:22 AM // 00:22	#19
moriz ??ber t??k-n??sh'??n Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Canada Profession: R/	TMC tests ALL the servers, right after one another.