← Back to InfraTycoon

InfraTycoon FAQ & Guide

Everything you need to know to build your hosting empire.

Which OS for which service?

🖥️

VPS Hosting

Virtual Private Servers — sell virtualized slices of your physical servers

Required OS

Proxmox VE 8VMware ESXi 8Windows Server 2022 + Hyper-V

VPS requires a hypervisor to create virtual machines. Without one, you can't split a server into VPS instances.

Tips

  • Proxmox is free and most popular
  • ESXi for enterprise clients
  • Hyper-V if you need Windows VMs
🌐

Web Hosting

Shared and managed web hosting for websites

Required OS

Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTSDebian 12 BookwormRocky Linux 9

Web hosting runs on standard Linux with a web server (Apache/Nginx), PHP, databases, etc.

Tips

  • Ubuntu is easiest for beginners
  • Debian for stability
  • Rocky Linux for enterprise clients
🎮

Game Hosting

Game server hosting — Minecraft, CS2, Rust, ARK, etc.

Required OS

Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTSDebian 12 BookwormWindows Server 2022

Most game servers run on Linux. Some (like certain Rust servers or ASA) need Windows.

Tips

  • Linux for most games
  • Windows only if the game requires it
  • High CPU clock speed matters more than core count
🤖

Bot Hosting

Discord bots, Telegram bots, automation scripts

Required OS

Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTSDebian 12 Bookworm

Bots are lightweight — any Linux distro works. They need minimal resources.

Tips

  • 1 core and 512MB RAM is enough for most bots
  • Low margins but high volume
  • Easy to oversell
💾

Storage Hosting

Backup storage, object storage, file hosting

Required OS

TrueNAS SCALE

TrueNAS is purpose-built for storage with ZFS, snapshots, replication, and S3-compatible APIs.

Tips

  • Use HDD servers for cost-effective storage
  • NVMe for high-performance storage
  • Offer both tiers
🏗️

Dedicated Servers

Rent entire physical servers to customers

Required OS

No OS needed — customer installs their own

Dedicated server customers get the bare metal and install their own OS via IPMI/KVM.

Tips

  • Higher margins than VPS
  • Less customers but more revenue per customer
  • Offer IPMI access
🏢

Enterprise

Custom solutions for large businesses

Required OS

Any — depends on customer requirements

Enterprise deals are custom. The customer specifies everything — OS, hardware, SLA, support level.

Tips

  • Highest margins
  • Requires high reputation
  • Long contracts (6-12 months)
  • Dedicated support expected

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get started?▼
1. Rent a datacenter (Datacenters page) 2. Add a rack → provision Power Feed A + Network Uplink 3. Buy a UPS, PDU, switch, router, and server 4. Install them in your rack from Inventory 5. Go to Cabling → connect: Feed A → UPS → PDU → Servers, Carrier → Router → Switch → Servers 6. Go to Servers → Install OS → Create Hosting Product 7. Accept customer requests on the Customers page! Tip: Use 'I Need A Server' in the Server Builder to get a shopping list.
What's the power chain?▼
Power Feed A (from datacenter) → UPS Mains Input → UPS Output → PDU Power Input → PDU Outlets → Server/Switch/Router PSU Feed A is required before installing any servers. Feed B is optional but adds redundancy (lowers incident risk). Without a UPS, hardware failure chance is higher. The PDU distributes power from one input to many outlets.
What's the network chain?▼
Carrier Handoff → Router WAN port → Router LAN port → Firewall WAN → Firewall LAN → Switch port → Server eth0 1. First connect a carrier on the Networking page (Transit tab) 2. The carrier appears as a handoff port in your rack 3. Cable it to your router's WAN port 4. Cable router LAN to firewall WAN (optional but recommended) 5. Cable firewall/router LAN to switch 6. Cable switch ports to server eth0 ports All done via the Cabling page — select your rack and use the dropdowns.
What's a cross-connect?▼
A cross-connect is a direct fiber cable between two racks in the same datacenter. Use cases: • Connect your core network rack to a server rack • Link to another provider's rack (carrier peering) • Dedicated low-latency connection between racks Order a cross-connect in the rack services panel (datacenter → rack → Rack Services). It costs $250 setup + $75/month. The cross-connect appears as a connection point in both racks.
How do IP addresses work?▼
Buy IP blocks on the Networking page: • IPv4: /30 (1 IP, $50) to /24 (253 IPs, $7,500) • IPv6: /64, /56, /48 When you accept a customer, IPs are automatically assigned from your blocks. Customers with more IPs pay more ($5/mo per extra IP). Enterprise customers can request 4-16+ IPs. View your IP usage on the VPS & Services page — click a block to see individual IP assignments.
How does income work?▼
Game speed: 1 real day = 1 in-game month. Income = hosting products × active customers × monthly price. It accumulates automatically. Click 'Collect Earnings' on the dashboard to cash in. Expenses are deducted automatically: datacenter rent, rack services (power feeds, uplinks), carrier connections, and IP block costs. The worker auto-collects every 15 minutes for offline players.
What is overallocation?▼
You can allocate more resources than your server physically has — standard practice in hosting. Maximum 1.5x per server. Example: A 16-core server can sell 24 cores worth of VPS, because customers don't all use 100% at the same time. If you need more capacity, add more servers to your cluster. Products are automatically distributed across cluster servers.
How do server clusters work?▼
On the Servers page, click 'Create Hosting Product'. Select multiple servers to form a cluster. The product is split across all servers evenly. Example: 5 servers × 256 cores = 1,280 cores cluster. With 1.5x overallocation = up to 1,920 cores of VPS. Use 'Configure Role' per server to restrict what types of hosting it can run (VPS only, Web only, etc). This prevents mixing game servers with web hosting on the same node.
How do I build a custom server?▼
Server Builder has 4 tabs: 1. 'I Need A Server' — enter your specs, get a shopping list with prices 2. 'Pre-Built Servers' — buy ready-made servers instantly 3. 'Assemble Custom' — pick components from inventory and build 4. 'Buy Components' — buy CPUs, RAM, storage, etc. The advisor shows what you already own and only charges for what you still need. After assembly, the server appears in your inventory ready to install in a rack.
What are datacenter upgrades?▼
Backbone: network speed (1G → 10G → 40G → 100G → 400G) Cooling: reduces failure chance, enables higher server density Security: increases customer trust, required for enterprise clients Network: adds redundancy, multi-carrier peering, CDN integration Upgrade in the datacenter detail page. Each level costs more but unlocks better capabilities.
How do I make money fast?▼
1. Start with VPS hosting — highest demand 2. Use the 'Accept All' button on the Customers page 3. The system auto-creates products and assigns servers 4. Buy /24 IPv4 blocks — better price per IP than small blocks 5. Upgrade your backbone to handle more bandwidth 6. Add more servers and configure roles to specialize 7. New customer requests appear every 20 minutes automatically
Why aren't my servers showing in the Servers tab?▼
Servers only appear after you install a server-type hardware item in a rack. Make sure: 1. You bought a server (not just components) 2. It's installed in a rack with Power Feed A provisioned 3. You connected it via the Cabling page If you installed before the latest update, uninstall and reinstall the server to create the record.

InfraTycoon — Build Your Hosting Empire

Start playing · Sign in