Scaling Video Conferencing: From Prototype to Unlimited Participants

By Yohan Totting

Elevator Pitch

My talk is about how to build a scaleable video conferencing app end to end, from the front end to the backend. It will cover about how how the video layout in the front end, work together with adaptive bitrate on the backend can scale a video conferencing app from hundreds to millions participants.

Description

The shift towards online interactions is. Video conferencing like online meeting app is just the beginning. We already see some of new tele-conference use-cases during pandemic, from telemedicine to online music concert from multiple locations. But building a video conferencing app still remain complex High bandwidth demands, CPU limitations, and intricate protocols pose significant challenges because it is about processing and forwarding a ton of network packets.

This talk will provide a comprehensive overview of building and scaling your own teleconferencing application. We’ll deep dive into the technology behind video conferencing app, explore the challenges of building a scalable video conferencing app, and discuss strategies for optimizing bandwidth usage and automating scalability.

This talk will cover the about: - Overview about video conferencing app - Introduction to WebRTC SFUs and their advantages over traditional architectures - Challenges on building a scaleable Selective Forwarding Unit(SFU) library from scratch - Measuring and optimizing video conferencing quality and capacity - Strategies for frontend and backend collaboration to optimize resource usage - Scaling video conferencing from hundreds to an unlimited number of participants

Attendees will gain a deep understanding of video conferencing technology and the strategies required to build highly scalable solutions. They’ll learn how to measure and optimize quality, automate scalability, and create applications capable of handling massive numbers of participants.

Notes

Video conferencing is a complex technology used by most people with smartphones or internet access, yet few developers understand how to build it. I’ve been working on a WebRTC Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU) library for over a year. This library is essential if you want to build a video conferencing app. I also developed Inlive Room, a Zoom or Google Meet alternative that uses my library on the backend.

Since I started this, I haven’t found anyone in Indonesia who has built their own SFU, or even anyone capable of developing their own video conferencing app. Most companies with video conferencing in their apps rely on non-local third-party vendors. My objective with this talk is to inspire more local developers to work on fundamental technologies, even if they are complex and require significant time to understand.