How do I use the Game Cache Server? · Customer Self-Service

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PURPOSE:

Allow students to download game content without counting against their bandwidth quota

APPLIES TO:

Rose-Hulman Institute issued machines, PC, PlayStation, Xbox

VALIDATION:

The following services have been tested and use non encrypted HTTP requests to download game content from their respective content delivery networks:
Steam, Blizzard, Xbox, PlayStation, Riot, and Origin
Note: The Origin client will detect the local cache server. When you try to download a game, the client will ask if you want to turn off Safe Downloads. Turning Safe Downloads off causes the client to perform game downloads as http requests instead of https requests. This is necessary for content to be cached.
Services that may work, but are currently untested:
Arena Net, City of Heroes, Day Break, Epic Games, Frontier, Hirez, Neverwinter, Nexus Mods, Renegade, Rock Star, Square, Teso, Uplay, Warframe, WarGaming.

Game Cache Service Pilot
Many game providers utilize HTTP GET requests for downloading content. A Content Delivery Service, or CDN, such as Battle.net or Steam, will first securely download a manifest of blocks of data that need to be downloaded and their checksums. The client then uses HTTP GET requests to download each block of data and use the checksum to verify the block. Once the client has downloaded all of the blocks of data, it uses the manifest to assemble the blocks of data into the game or patch.
To use the new Game Cache Service, a user must change their DNS server to a specific DNS server. When the user makes a request to a known game Content Delivery Service, the DNS server replaces the IP address of the CDN with the IP address of the game cache server.
Since the CDN uses HTTP GET requests, the game cache server uses an http forward proxy to download the blocks of data on behalf of the client. It will store the data into a local cache and then send the data to the client. This allows the Game Cache server to download data once and then send it to multiple clients. Any encrypted https requests are processed by a SNI proxy and sent directly to the game provider without decrypting them, meaning that the proxy server will not see any confidential information such as usernames or passwords.
PC Instructions:
Setting your computer to use the Cache Service:

Open Control Panel.
Click on Network and Internet.
Click on Network and Sharing Center.
Click the Change Adapter Settings option in the left pane.
Right click on the interface connected to the internet (ethernet or wireless), and select the Properties option.
Select the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) option.
Click the Properties button.
Click the Use the following DNS server Addresses option.
Type “137.112.18.100” for the "preferred" DNS address. This should be the only DNS server listed.
Click the OK button.
Click the Close button.

Disabling the Cache Service:

Open Control Panel.
Click on Network and Internet.
Click on Network and Sharing Center.
Click the Change adapter settings option in the left pane.
Right-click the network interface connected to the internet, and select the Properties option.
Select and check the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) option.
Click the Properties button.
Click the Obtain DNS server address automatically option.
Click the OK button.
Click the Close button.

Go to Settings.
Select Network.
Select Set Up Internet Connection
Select either Use a LAN Cable or Use Wifi depending on how your PlayStation is configured.
Select Custom
Select RHIT-OPEN if using wireless
Select Automatic (IP Address)
Select Do Not Specify (DHCP Hostname)
Select Automatic (DNS Settings)
Select Automatic (MTU)
Select Use (Proxy Server)
Set Address to 172.16.1.220
Set port to 80
Select Next

Disabling the Cache Service:

Go to Settings.
Select Network.
Select Set Up Internet Connection
Select either Use a LAN Cable or Use Wifi depending on how your PlayStation is configured.
Select Custom
Select RHIT-OPEN if using wireless
Select Automatic (IP Address)
Select Do Not Specify (DHCP Hostname)
Select Automatic (DNS Settings)
Select Automatic (MTU)
Select Do Not Use (Proxy Server)
Select Next

Go to Settings.
Select Network Settings.
Select Advanced Settings.
Select DNS Settings.
Select Manual.
Set Primary IPv4 DNS to 137.112.18.100
Leave Secondary IPv4 DNS blank.

Disabling the Cache Service:

Go to Settings.
Select Network Settings.
Select Advanced Settings.
Select DNS Settings.
Select Automatic.

*** Important Note: EIT recommends using the cache service only when downloading game content. Leaving the cache service enabled may cause additional latency for normal web requests and during gameplay. ***
Testing the DNS Service:
Once you have changed your DNS, you can check that your computer is properly configured by going to this website: http://diagnostics.lancache.net/
This will check to make sure the CDN servers for each game provider are resolving to the Game Cache server. The WSUS service will display red, because we do not use the cache server for Windows Updates. Some Steam servers for the APAC and EU regions may not resolve. This shouldn’t cause any issues.

More help:

If this information does not help resolve your issue and/or you need assistance from EIT, please submit an online service request at: https://rose-hulman.microsoftcrmportals.com/SignIn?ReturnUrl=/mycases/create-case/

Keywords: bandwidth, data cap, gaming, Steam, Blizzard, DNS

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