Broadcast and Storage Server

Rillean · September 8, 2019

Alright so this one seems like a difficult problem to me but I am hoping some of you are going to say it is not a problem. Then again, maybe it could make a fun video!

Background
I and my Co-owner/Co-founder are trying to build a broadcasting network covering all things geeky. Much the same way ESPN covers sports or the Cooking Channel deals with food. As such we are recruiting multiple hosts to stream from multiple locations. So far issues have been minimal but, with the growth we expect to see soon, some things need to change. Currently in house (literally in my house), we have 3 pcs for streaming. Two that deal with the game play and one that handles OBS for our multiplayer games. Then when it is another streamer's turn to broadcast they simply go straight to Twitch using a streaming key. Unfortunately we have had to stop all recording at this time as our current storage solutions are full as well. We have gotten some push back from our community on this as some really good streams have been lost to the either.

What I am looking for
I would like a server of some kind that could (ideally) handle:

Accepting streams from PCs around the world for input into OBS or a similar program
Run OBS or a similar program to input overlays, and possibly multiple of these inputs at the same time and make them a cohesive stream. Much the way a news station takes input from in-studio feeds and multiple reporters.
Broadcast at a decent quality to Twitch
Record and save all streams
Allow remote access for someone to operate OBS
As cheap as possible. Unfortunately we are still very small and we are not making much from streaming so our budget is almost nothing.

Suggestions I have gotten

It was recommended that I simply setup a cheap computer to run an RTMP server and OBS. Possibly run that and a NAS for storage. Again my budget is very tight though so unless money drops out of the sky on me footing the bill for both is going to be very hard.

Thanks to everyone who reads this and I hope we can find a workable solution together.

leadeater · September 8, 2019

Does the location and noise of the computer matter? I'd be looking at used Supermicro/HPE/Dell/Lenovo/IBM servers but they're pretty loud in their readily available rack mount form factors.

AbsoluteFool · September 9, 2019

On 9/8/2019 at 6:56 AM, Rillean said:

Alright so this one seems like a difficult problem to me but I am hoping some of you are going to say it is not a problem. Then again, maybe it could make a fun video!

Background
I and my Co-owner/Co-founder are trying to build a broadcasting network covering all things geeky. Much the same way ESPN covers sports or the Cooking Channel deals with food. As such we are recruiting multiple hosts to stream from multiple locations. So far issues have been minimal but, with the growth we expect to see soon, some things need to change. Currently in house (literally in my house), we have 3 pcs for streaming. Two that deal with the game play and one that handles OBS for our multiplayer games. Then when it is another streamer's turn to broadcast they simply go straight to Twitch using a streaming key. Unfortunately we have had to stop all recording at this time as our current storage solutions are full as well. We have gotten some push back from our community on this as some really good streams have been lost to the either.

What I am looking for
I would like a server of some kind that could (ideally) handle:

Accepting streams from PCs around the world for input into OBS or a similar program

Run OBS or a similar program to input overlays, and possibly multiple of these inputs at the same time and make them a cohesive stream. Much the way a news station takes input from in-studio feeds and multiple reporters.

Broadcast at a decent quality to Twitch

Record and save all streams

Allow remote access for someone to operate OBS

As cheap as possible. Unfortunately we are still very small and we are not making much from streaming so our budget is almost nothing.

Suggestions I have gotten

It was recommended that I simply setup a cheap computer to run an RTMP server and OBS. Possibly run that and a NAS for storage. Again my budget is very tight though so unless money drops out of the sky on me footing the bill for both is going to be very hard.

Thanks to everyone who reads this and I hope we can find a workable solution together.

You could setup a red5 server on the inside that "guests" can connect to. This is a free RTMP server that you then can add into OBS. If you want another alternative than OBS you can check vmix.

FFmpeg can record streams (So can red5) but it's easier with FFmpeg. When it comes to remote access to OBS i would think VNC is the best option, but i'm quite sure someone else is better to answer that question.

Rillean · September 9, 2019

On 9/8/2019 at 1:39 AM, leadeater said:

Does the location and noise of the computer matter? I'd be looking at used Supermicro/HPE/Dell/Lenovo/IBM servers but they're pretty loud in their readily available rack mount form factors.

So that is one of the things I am thinking about. Right now the spot that makes the most sense for the server is the same room we stream from so noise WOULD matter. However I am also trying to future proof a bit (as much as one can do that) and think about what kinds of demands we are going to put on this in the future. In that sense, a rack mounted server is probably a better idea because it provides more space for expansion.