Notes

Set Up A Minecraft Server In Azure VM

My son is addicted to Minecraft, a single or multi-player game with a client/server architecture, millions of players, a recently released version (as of last Wednesday), and a vibrant, engaged community. When I first saw the game I was put off by the seemingly crude graphics (a cube-constructed world with overlaid textures on the blocks), but I quickly got over that when I saw how it was fun to play, how it sparks creativity (in the way it has you gather materials and craft things in survival mode), and how it encourages even greater creativity by letting you build structures and contraptions in creative mode. I'm also impressed by the huge and vibrant community of people playing and extending the game with plug-ins (mods), custom maps, and public server worlds (sites you can go to play, such as http://planetminecraft.net).



Minecraft can be played single-player on your local machine or you can connect with remote servers. You can set up your own server if you are a skilled user or have some IT skills. There are many tutorials available. That involves downloading the server software, running it, disabling any intervening firewalls, and typing in a server IP address on the client machine.



Of course what comes next is "Dad, can my friends connect to my Minecraft server?"



So I went down that route and configured our home router to do port forwarding, in turn allowing open internet traffic into the Minecraft-active port on our home network. That wasn't too tough, and again dozens of tutorials are out there to help walk you through the process.



The scary part: Poking holes in the firewall. This allows unidentified (and sometimes malicious) parties into your home network, and onto a machine that may contain other personal information. There is also the issue of bandwidth. This is an essential aspect of smooth gaming when a host server is involved. You could be creating an inaccessible server if your internet connection is slow or you have bandwidth limitations.



Enter Windows Azure Virtual Machines



As a Microsoft Windows Azure Insider it was obvious to me that Windows Azure is an ideal infrastructure for this kind of shared accessibility. Windows Azure has a lot of capabilities, including shared host roles, storage, access control, and what is generally referred to as PaaS - Platform as a Service. IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service – a relatively new offering of Windows Azure - includes virtual machine hosting.



AHH, finally, a good reason to get going with Azure VM's!



[Wait... That sounds a little snarky... It's not intended. I was trying to be funny... I guess I should keep my day job...
https://arkadne-igre.net/


The more I think about this, though, the more I like the idea. You can spin it down when you're done and you don't have to mess with your home firewalls. Yada, yada...


Homepage: https://arkadne-igre.net/