Best Practices for Configuring Jitsi with Multiple Videobridges

Scaling up Jitsi? You really need to wrap your head around jitsi multiple videobridges. It’s crucial if you want to improve performance, reliability, and call quality as you grow your user base. Whether you’re dipping your toes into Jitsi or a seasoned pro fine-tuning your setup, this step-by-step guide is your new best friend. We’ve got you covered on how to get multiple JVBs (Jitsi Videobridges) up and running—from setup to smooth sailing monitoring.

What Are Jitsi Videobridges?

Jitsi Videobridge (JVB) is pretty much the backbone of Jitsi’s video conferencing. Unlike typical setups that mix streams on one server, the JVB selectively forwards streams without doing the heavy lifting of full decoding. This smart design means better use of CPU and bandwidth, but there’s a catch: a single videobridge can max out if the hardware and network aren’t up to the task, limiting participant numbers and call quality.

A single JVB can manage small gatherings (think 75-100 users per server, depending on your gear). But for larger teams or simultaneous meetings, you’ll need to think bigger—enter jitsi multiple videobridges.

Real-World Insight

From personal experience managing Jitsi setups for a mid-size company, we hit the ceiling with a single JVB during big meetings, leading to delays and sketchy video quality. But when we threw in two more videobridges, our capacity nearly tripled, and guess what? No extra lag!

Benefits of Using Multiple JVBs

Running several videobridge servers? Here’s the upside:

• Improved Scalability: Each JVB manages a chunk of the traffic, letting your Jitsi support thousands of users at once.
• Load Distribution: With traffic spread out over different videobridges, you avoid bottlenecks.
• Better Reliability and Failover: If one JVB bites the dust, the others step in to keep meetings going.
• Geographic Proximity: Stick some videobridges closer to participants for better quality and less lag.
• Optimized Resource Use: Smaller meetings can bypass busy JVBs, making your system more efficient.

Case Study: University Online Learning

A university shifted to multiple JVBs spread across datacenters near student clusters. The outcome? Video hiccups dropped by 40% during peak times. Administrators constantly tweaked load distribution and JVB settings to keep things smooth without breaking the bank on new hardware.

Configuration Guide

Ready to configure jitsi multiple videobridges? It takes a bit of coordination between your Jitsi Meet server, i.e., Prosody and Jicofo, and the videobridge instances.

1. Install Multiple Videobridge Instances

Run each JVB on its own server or container. Use the standard Jitsi Videobridge installation process for each one:

sudo apt install jitsi-videobridge2

Finish the install, then tweak the config file (usually /etc/jitsi/videobridge/sip-communicator.properties) to give each instance a unique ID and set up network settings.

2. Connect Videobridges to Jicofo

Jicofo is the agent that manages the conference life cycle and picks the right videobridge for each event. Make sure to register your JVB instances with Jicofo.

You’ll need to update each videobridge’s authentication with Jicofo in sip-communicator.properties:

org.jitsi.videobridge.AUTHORIZED_SOURCE_REGEXP=focus@auth.yourdomain.com/.*

And tweak Jicofo’s configurations in /etc/jitsi/jicofo/config with the correct Multi-Bridge directive:

org.jitsi.jicofo.BRIDGE_MUC_TIMEOUT=5000

3. Enable Videobridge Load Balancing

By default, Jicofo picks available videobridges from the XMPP muc (multi-user chat room). Once multiple videobridges hop on the muc (generally JvbBrewery@internal.auth.yourdomain.com), Jicofo spreads the load.

The jvb.sh launch scripts and relevant config files should point to the same muc.

4. Adjust Firewall & Network Settings

Ensure all JVBs can chat with Jicofo and participants. Keep the UDP ports (default: 10000) and TCP ports for SIP unrestricted between hosts.

5. JVB Tuning for Performance

Tweak each videobridge to suit your hardware and needs:

• Simulcast: Give devices with lower bandwidth multiple quality streams for handling ease.
• Endpoint Identification: Helps route streams better.
• CPU and Memory Limits: Modify JVM flags to prevent crashes during high loads.

Example JVM tuning settings in /etc/default/jitsi-videobridge:

JVB_OPTS="-Xms512m -Xmx2g -XX:+UseG1GC"

Boost heap size on powerful servers, lower it on the smaller ones.

Managing Load and Failover

Load Distribution Strategies

Jicofo assigns one videobridge per conference. With tons of JVBs, it chooses the lightest load option.

Use JVB health checks and metrics to help Jicofo dodge overloaded bridges. Adjust Jicofo’s config to set thresholds.

• With REST API endpoints in newer JVB versions, you can grab load info.
• Got a massive setup? Look into consistent hashing or custom load balancers before Jicofo.

Handling Failover

If a videobridge crashes or ghosts:

• Jicofo notices the absence via muc presence or health reports.
• It’ll route new conferences away from the dud.
• Existing conferences might reconnect to other JVBs if the client supports switching (requires some changes).

Real-World Troubleshooting Tip

At one gig, a surprise network blip knocked a JVB out of the muc. Jicofo spotted it and rerouted new sessions without a hitch. Current users? Well, they faced a brief video blackout until a reconnection. Minimize this by setting tight monitoring alerts and automating quick restarts for downed videobridges.

Monitoring Performance

Keeping an eye on multiple videobridges is crucial to smooth operations and early detection of any wrinkles.

Tools and Techniques

• Prometheus & Grafana: They collect JVB metrics via JMX exporters. Track metrics like CPU/memory use, packet loss, active endpoints, and Simulcast streams.
• Jitsi Health Checks: Query the JVB’s health endpoints regularly.
• Logging: Funnel videobridge logs through the ELK stack or similar solutions.
• Custom Alerts: Create alerts for CPU usage, load, or error rates to keep your team informed in real-time.

Metrics to Watch

• Active endpoints per videobridge
• Total bitrates in/out
• Packet loss and jitter
• Memory consumption
• CPU load percentage

Example Setup

Once, we put together Grafana dashboards for a client, showing real-time JVB traffic and resources. This helped spot capacity issues weeks before a major event—sidestepping downtime by scaling up servers pronto.

Conclusion

Using jitsi multiple videobridges is hands-down the smartest move for scaling Jitsi in large setups. It broadens capacity, boosts reliability, and keeps users happy. You’ll need to install and fine-tune several JVBs, align them with Jicofo, maintain load and failover tactics, and use monitoring tools to track performance.

Avoid the massive hardware bill by smartly distributing video tasks. Start small, tweak your JVBs as you go, and always keep an eye on resource use to perfect your setup over time.

If you’re after resilient video conferencing that grows with you, mastering multiple videobridge setups and tuning is a must.

Feel like diving in? Set up a second videobridge now and notice the change. Whether you have questions or want to tell your Jitsi story, drop a comment—I’m here to help!