Lets talk about reponsible use of heavy machinery

[Pwnsaucier]

First of all, I'd like to make it clear that I understand that being allowed on the tekkit server is a privilege, and everything below is said with that in mind

Inherent to buildcraft(BC) pipes is the possibility to inadvertently create a huge lagmonster with absolutely no intention of doing so. When BC pipes have an overflow situation, items simply pop out and sit on the ground. Often, the result of such a situation is a quick buildup of drop entities. Piles of these drop entities, unfortunately, can lag a server very seriously. The solution to this issue is to simply not use BC pipes whenever possible, instead utilizing redpower's pneumatic tubes.

Understandably, it seems that not everyone on the tekkit server is aware of this, and we're seeing server lag as a result. This lag can be quite severe at times, too. As of right now, I've observing the server running at less than 10% of it's normal speed (Overserving a redpower timer set to 1 second taking over 10 seconds per pulse).

IMO, the solution to this problem is largely a matter of educating those benevolent folks who simply don't know better.

Still, I'd like to suggest that it become a rule (formal or informal) that redpower tubes and/or other forms of overflow protection are mandatory in all item transport operations.

Also, on a related note, I think it would be a good idea to add another rule (formal or informal) that large machines and factories (even those that have full overflow protection) not be left on and/or anchored when the owner is not online. Even though redpower tube based machines and factories don't cause lag like overflowing BC pipes do, I still believe that, on a large scale like we're beginning to have, they can still cause substantial server load (and lag). I did some testing using a locally hosted tekkit server, where I built and copied a substantial amount of redpower pipes, filters, auto crafting table mkIIs, and energy condensers infinitely making cobblestone, crafting furnaces, and then feeding the furnaces into other energy condensers which produced diamond blocks. The result of this? The server, even running locally, began to lag slightly. Items in RP tubes started rubber banding, and redpower timers weren't quite keeping up to the speed they were set to. Below is a screenshot of the setup I ran. Front and center in the screenshot is 1 of 9 lines of 16 condensers>auto crafting tables>retrievers>condensers running on a 1 second timer. I'm quite frankly surprised that it took this little to have a significantly negative impact on server performance.

http://i.imgur.com/B4Dtf.jpg

Thanks for letting donators be part of the tekkit server. All I want is to bring these issues to light so that everyone on the server can have a more smooth, enjoyable experience.

[mydrox]

Let it also be know that If I find machinery that drops items and lags the server, I deactivate them completely (usually by removing all redstone in the area). If I have to do it a second time (after having left a message the first time stating the consequences) you might find that your machinery might have mysteriously vanished into thin air.

[oli4uk]

The biggest problem for me was lack of information, the majority of tekkit tutorials lead you to redpower machines, and while I spent ages looking for an item management system the best I found was pressure pad shut offs.

To make matters worse, there is very little documentation on using tubes, which means you have to do a little hunting to find out more info on it.

I think a decent solution would be to add one step to the tutorial section that has two signs, one saying 'want to build factories' the second saying 'Google Redpower Pneumatic Tubes'.

I dont know how feasible it would be, but getting the knowledge out there might help.

[welwyn]

A lot of training is done via self taught stuff, as there is hardly any documentation out there.
I learnt a lot through looking at beardtecs machinery, and then testing for myself.

If people ask, they usually get told, if I'm not busy I normally answer.

[oli4uk]

Sorry that should have said a lot of information leads you to pipes* in the first paragraph, finding out about redpower machines was the hard part