Should you use a single BigBlueButton server or deploy Scalelite for load balancing? This is one of the most common questions we hear. Let's break it down.
When a Single Server Works
A single BBB server can handle more than you might think. With proper hardware, one server can typically support:
- 100-150 concurrent participants
- 10-20 simultaneous meetings
- Small to medium organizations
If your usage fits within these limits, a single server might be all you need. The advantages:
- Simpler setup and maintenance
- Lower infrastructure costs
- Easier troubleshooting
When You Need Scalelite
Consider Scalelite when:
1. You Need More Capacity
If you regularly exceed a single server's capacity, Scalelite lets you add more servers to your pool. There's no practical limit to how many servers you can add.
2. You Need High Availability
A single server is a single point of failure. With Scalelite, if one server goes down, meetings continue on remaining servers. New meetings are automatically routed to healthy servers.
3. You Have Variable Load
Some organizations have predictable spikes - start of semester, company all-hands, etc. Scalelite makes it easy to add temporary capacity and remove it when not needed.
4. You Need Geographic Distribution
For global organizations, you can place BBB servers in different regions. Scalelite can route users to the nearest server (with some configuration).
The Transition Path
Many organizations start with a single server and migrate to Scalelite when they outgrow it. The good news: Scalelite works with a single server too, so you can set it up before you need to scale.
Cost Considerations
Scalelite itself is free and open source. The costs to consider:
- Additional servers - More BBB servers mean more infrastructure costs
- Scalelite host - Scalelite needs its own server (can be small)
- Monitoring - More servers means more to monitor
- Management time - More complex infrastructure requires more attention
Our Recommendation
Start with what you need today, but plan for growth:
- <100 concurrent users: Single BBB server is likely sufficient
- 100-500 concurrent users: Consider Scalelite with 2-5 servers
- 500+ concurrent users: Scalelite is essential
Regardless of your size, monitoring is critical. Try Scalelite Manager Pro free to get visibility into your infrastructure - whether you have one server or fifty.