Jitsi Meet server: your video conferencing, on your own infrastructure
Host Jitsi Meet on a Kimsufi dedicated server and run your meetings without relying on a third-party service. CPU, RAM and bandwidth are reserved for you, with unmetered traffic: your calls stay smooth, even at peak times.
Why host Jitsi Meet on a dedicated server?
Jitsi Meet is free, open source video conferencing software. Participants join a meeting from their browser or the mobile app, without creating an account. It is a credible alternative to Zoom or Google Meet for organizations that want to stay in control of their communications.
Public instances are fine for an occasional call. When video calls become a daily tool, hosting your own Jitsi changes everything:
- your audio and video streams go through infrastructure you manage, in the country of your choice;
- you customize the interface, the domain name and user authentication;
- you don't depend on a number of licenses or on a time limit set by a plan, as with Zoom;
- you can connect Jitsi to your other tools: LDAP directory, SSO, SIP telephony.
A VPS is enough to test Jitsi with a few people, but its vCPUs are shared with other customers, and the Jitsi documentation points out that CPU performance on shared hosting is inconsistent. Yet the videobridge, which relays each stream to each participant, reacts to the slightest saturation. A dedicated server gives you an entire machine for a service that has to handle the load.
Why choose a Kimsufi dedicated server for Jitsi Meet?
Bandwidth and unmetered traffic
Each participant sends and receives several streams. With bandwidth from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps depending on the model and unmetered traffic included, you size your video conferencing service with no usage-based billing.
Reserved resources
CPU, RAM and storage are shared with no one. The videobridge and Prosody get all the available power, with no noisy-neighbor effect during your calls.
Full control
With root access, you choose the operating system, the Jitsi version, the Nginx configuration and the authentication method. You add Jigasi, Jibri or BigBlueButton as needed.
Built-in security
Anti-DDoS protection is included with every offer and our datacenters are ISO 27001 certified. Your communications stay on infrastructure you control.
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How to choose your server for Jitsi Meet or BigBlueButton?
Jitsi Meet is lightweight when idle: the number of simultaneous participants, active webcams and the resolution determine what you need. A few guidelines to choose your configuration:
- Network: this is the first criterion. The JVB does not mix video, it forwards it (SFU): bandwidth increases with each participant and each webcam. For regular calls with several dozen people, go for a 1 Gbps model.
- Processor: the JVB uses the CPU to encrypt every packet. The Jitsi documentation cites 4 dedicated cores as a reasonable baseline.
- Memory: 8 GB of RAM is the usual recommendation, 4 GB for small groups. Recording with Jibri, which launches one Chrome instance per session, requires much more.
- Storage: Jitsi uses little disk space, unless you record your sessions. In that case, plan disk space for the files, or transfer them to external storage.
- Location: choose a datacenter close to your teams (France, Germany, United Kingdom, Poland, Canada, India, Singapore or Australia) to reduce latency.
BigBlueButton, designed for virtual classrooms, is more demanding: its documentation recommends at least 16 GB of RAM and 8 cores, on a machine dedicated to this use. The KS range suits a team; the SYS and RISE ranges offer more resources for sustained use.
Install Jitsi Meet on Debian or Ubuntu: architecture and steps
Your server is up and running a few minutes after you order. From the control panel, launch the one-click operating system installation (Debian or Ubuntu, the targets of the official packages), then open an SSH session from your terminal.
A Jitsi Meet installation combines several components:
- Nginx serves the web application over HTTPS;
- Prosody handles XMPP signaling;
- Jicofo orchestrates each conference;
- Jitsi Videobridge (JVB) relays the audio and video streams.
To get started, point a domain name to the machine's IP address, then add the GPG key and the stable Jitsi repository. In the terminal, sudo apt install jitsi-meet installs the packages and prepares the Nginx configuration; the installation wizard then offers a Let's Encrypt certificate. Open TCP ports 80 and 443, UDP port 10000 for media, and the SSH port.
Two optional components round out the service: Jigasi, a SIP gateway to join a conference by phone, and Jibri, to record or stream your sessions. The JVB network settings (ice4j, advertised addresses) are in jvb.conf, and the website settings in the Nginx .conf file.
Is Jitsi Meet free?
Yes. Jitsi Meet is free software under the Apache 2.0 license: you can install and use it with no license fee or per-user subscription. The only cost is the machine that hosts it.
How do you join a Jitsi Meet call?
Open the meeting link in a recent browser or in the Jitsi Meet mobile app, allow access to your microphone and webcam, then enter your name. No account is needed, unless the administrator requires one.
What hardware do you need for 100 participants?
It all depends on the number of active webcams and the resolution: a call with 100 participants and three speakers on screen does not have the same needs as ten calls of ten people with cameras on. Start with a multi-core processor and a 1 Gbps connection, measure the actual load, then add a videobridge if needed.
What is the difference between the JVB and the XMPP server?
Prosody, the XMPP component, handles signaling: connections, rooms, chat. The JVB carries the audio and video streams and uses most of the CPU and bandwidth.
How do you enable end-to-end encryption on Jitsi Meet?
Streams are already encrypted in transit. Jitsi Meet also offers end-to-end encryption, which the organizer enables in the conference security options, on compatible browsers.
How do you install Jitsi Meet?
On Debian or Ubuntu, add the official Jitsi repository, then run sudo apt install jitsi-meet: the installation prepares the configuration of Nginx, Prosody, Jicofo and the JVB. You then need to set up DNS, the HTTPS certificate and the firewall. You can also use the official Docker image.