System Requirements - Transcoding Server

Below is a rough guideline for server hardware requirements for youra RTMPtranscoding server

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For 10 Concurrent Streams

• CPU:
  • 26–8 cores

  • This gives headroom to run roughly 20 concurrent encoding tasks (modern2 dual‑coreper atstream) ~2.5+ GHzplus shouldmanage bethe sufficient)
    passthrough.

• RAM:
  • 4 8 GB minimum (8 16 GB recommendedrecommended) for

  extra
  • Ensures bufferingsmooth operation with multiple encoder processes and systemOS overhead)
    overhead.

• Network:
  • 1 Gbps NIC

  • Estimated Bandwidth:Ingress: ~40 Mbps total (10 streams × 4 Mbps)Mbps ≈ 40 Mbps
  • PlentyEstimated ofEgress: headroom10 is× available(1.5 with+ a2.5 + 4) ≈ 80 Mbps
  • The 1 Gbps link easily covers this with room for spikes.

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For 100 Concurrent Streams

• CPU:
  • 4–816–32 cores

  • ForEach ingeststream only,produces 2 CPU-intensive transcoding jobs; a quad‑larger core 3.0+ GHz processor may suffice
  • If any processing (e.g., repackaging)count is added,critical. leanThe towardhigher 8range coresis advised for pure software encoding.

• RAM:
  • 8 GB minimum (16 GB recommended to comfortably handle buffering, connection management, and OS overhead)

• Network:
  • 1 Gbps NIC might be borderline if streams are high quality

  • Estimated Bandwidth: ~400 Mbps total (100 streams × 4 Mbps)
  • For extra reliability and headroom, consider a 10 Gbps NIC or NIC bonding

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For 1,000 Concurrent Streams

• CPU:
  • 8–16 cores

  • For pure ingest, 8 cores might work if optimized
  • If you perform any transcoding or heavy processing, 16+ cores are recommended

• RAM:
  • 16 GB minimum (32 GB recommendedrecommended) to

  accommodate
  • More higherconcurrent buffering,encoding connectiontasks management,will andbenefit anyfrom additionalextra processingmemory.
  tasks)

• Network:
  • 10 Gbps NIC (or aggregated/multipleaggregated NICs)connections)

  • Estimated Bandwidth:Ingress: ~4 Gbps total (1,000 streams100 × 4 Mbps)Mbps ≈ 400 Mbps
  • AEstimated Egress: 100 × ~8 Mbps ≈ 800 Mbps
  • Although calculated bitrates are below 1 Gbps, using a 10 Gbps connectionNIC provides the necessaryample headroom for overhead, bursty traffic, and stabilitypotential increases in bitrate if you choose higher-quality settings.

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KeyAdditional Considerations

• ProcessingHardware Load:Acceleration:
  TheIf aboveyou recommendationscan assumeuse minimalGPUs or dedicated encoding hardware (NVENC aka NVIDIA), you can significantly reduce CPU loadrequirements. perFor streamlarge-scale (i.e.transcoding, simplethis ingress).is
  

  often
a
• more

  Networkcost‑effective Overhead:
  Real‑worldand conditionsenergy‑efficient (protocol overhead, burstiness, etc.) might push bandwidth requirements higher. It’s wise to over‑dimension network capacity relative to the calculated total.approach.

• Scalability:
  InFor production,very high concurrency (hundreds to thousands of streams), consider a multi‑server or cloud‑based transcoding farm that distributes the load balancingrather acrossthan multiplerelying serverson ifa yousingle expectbox.

  to
consistently
• approach

  Encoding Settings & Quality:
  More aggressive encoding quality settings will increase CPU load. Tailor these limits,recommendations based on your specific quality versus resource trade‑offs.

• Redundancy & Future Growth:
  Always plan with extra headroom for unexpected spikes and ensurefuture monitoringscaling to adjust resources as needed.needs.

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These guidelines provide a starting point to help you size your hardware. Actual requirements can vary significantly depending on your exact situation.