I need a server...

Me and my friends are working on a MMO right now. It's turning out good and stuff, but there's just one little problem.
We need a server. I have been using my own computer as server, but I can't keep it on 24/7, and lot's of people being on all the time would surely slow it down (not that I think this will get very many players... lol).
So, can any of you guys help me? Do you have a server? Know where I could host this for free? Thanks.

What about homebutton?

You won't be able to find somewhere to host a game for free.

However, you can probably find one in the 60$ price range (per month).

I know that DEDIBOX (in French) exists, but I don't know any others...

Yes, it costs way too much if you want to have atleast a bit performance.

I'll give you a small calculation:

If you're making a network game, (and you're good) you need to take into the calculations an average continious stream of data of 4kb per user.

Thats 64kbit per user. This is fair for a network game.

The better your upload connection is, the more users you can have on your server.

Say that you have a 1mbit connection upload, then you can host a max of 1024/8=128kbyte / 4kb = 32 users.

Now ofcource, you are not using your entire bandwidth for your game, so its fair to say that for 1024kbit upload, you can have 16 users without lag.

This also means, that you only have about 512kbit upload left for your other things, like torrents, fileuploads, browsing the internet (yes, every request for a page has upload traffic too) etc...

This makes having a connection to a server very expensive to begin with. Next you'll need a server (computer) that can be online 24/7 so you have a powerbill plus rent for that machine, and ofcource it must also run windows so your game is supported. You'll need a license.

You can count on atleast 70 euro a month for a cheap deal to get what you'll need. For free is not an option, and this will not be available anywhere.

Yay. I have no idea why I even asked if I could get this working for free... but... blahness.
And HomeButton won't work. And I think I will just abandon this.

The only alternative is figuring out a way to get it turnbased over a website script. That way you can actually have many users for free connected to your server 24/7. Like a java chat etc.

The only alternative is figuring out a way to get it turnbased over a website script. That way you can actually have many users for free connected to your server 24/7. Like a java chat etc.

QFT

Also, if you're a genius (meaning, it's possible, but hard and comes with a lot of issues, so it's hardly ever done) you can have the game data flowing P2P.

This means your server just tracks players as they move from area to area, and tells the clients what other players are visible, and then the clients send game data between each other.

The downsides are that it requires a better connection to be able to play, and that game physics need to be calculated on the client, meaning that a malicious user can do anything he likes (like walk through walls).

Another solution (if your game gets big enough) is to have multiple servers that track a section of the game world, so that switching areas means switching servers.

But the only two real ways of increasing the potential of a server is either more bandwidth, or reduce the amount of data to be transferred.