How many simultaneous users can BigBlueButton support Print

How many simultaneous users can BigBlueButton support

We recommend no single sessions exceed one hundred (100) users.

Members of the BBB community periodically host stress tests for BigBlueButton, which gives others a data point on what a particular server was able to handle. Take any stress test with a grain of salt. There are many variables at play:

    Server: CPU memory, disk space, and bandwidth
    Usage scenarios (# of webcams and use of desktop sharing)
    Upstream bandwidth from clients
    Configuration of BigBlueButton
    Version of BigBlueButton

The scalability of a BigBlueButton session also depends on what media users are sharing in a session. If you have a session with 20 users and all sharing their webcam, this scenario will generate 400 streams (20 incoming streams to the server and 380 outgoing streams). Alternatively, if in the same session there is only one person (the instructor) sharing their webcam, there will be 20 streams (1 incoming and 19 outgoing).

If you have a session with 20 users and all share their microphones, there will be 20 two-way audio stream being mixed by in real-time by FreeSWITCH. Alternatively, if only one user (the instructor) shares their microphone and 19 join Listen Only, then there is only one stream mixed by FreeSWITCH (less CPU), and 19 one way streams shared to the user.

If you are unsure of how many users your server will support, we strongly recommend you first stress test your own server with a group of users to get real-world data.

To test your own server, have five people login and have each open multiple browser tabs, each tab logging into BigBlueButton and joining the audio conference. With 5 friends, you can simulate 10, 20, 30, etc. users.