Own server - what's needed?

[Heyes]

I'm new to this, so may be asking daft questions.

 

For an upcoming project I need more capacity (several thousand simultaneous listeners) than the usual shared hosting services, and am happy to run my own server.

 

If I've understood things correctly (and I'm not at all sure that I have)... I buy some automation software (SAM, Jazler, or similar) which'll output in Shoutcast/Icecast format, and then Shoutcast to broadcast the stream to listeners. Anything else or did I get this completely wrong?

 

UPDATE: I think perhaps I did get this wrong - and that the automation software will output a stream in mp3/aac - in which case why would Shoutcast/Icecast be needed?

Edited July 10, 2015 by Heyes

[SmoothJazz]

The streaming server is required to manage the user connections, the automation software is the source for the streaming server no matter what the format. The other component need for that many user connections is a tremendous amount of bandwidth, I am sure you realize that is not sustainable for a "home" connection, you would need to rent a dedicated server or VPS to run your "station". Edited July 10, 2015 by SmoothJazz
Added bandwidth comment

[djsoft]

First of all you need to calculate the amount of bandwidth you need: number of listeners * bitrate, increase that by 20%, just in case. Then you only need to find a dedicated server with enough bandwidth, install your streaming software and server there. That should be it.

You should also set up some monitoring system, so that it will restart the software in case it crashes (Icecast and Shoutcast tend to crash from time to time).

[Heyes]

The streaming server is required to manage the user connections, the automation software is the source for the streaming server no matter what the format.

 

Ah... got it. Thanks.

 

 

The other component need for that many user connections is a tremendous amount of bandwidth, I am sure you realize that is not sustainable for a "home" connection, you would need to rent a dedicated server or VPS to run your "station".

 

Yes, I do thanks.

[Heyes]

First of all you need to calculate the amount of bandwidth you need: number of listeners * bitrate, increase that by 20%, just in case. Then you only need to find a dedicated server with enough bandwidth, install your streaming software and server there. That should be it.

You should also set up some monitoring system, so that it will restart the software in case it crashes (Icecast and Shoutcast tend to crash from time to time).

 

Thanks. To a degree I'm governed by the outgoing 'pipe' size... a 1 gigabit connection should serve approx 7500 sim listeners @128k mp3, although if I use aac that bitrate can drop and sim listeners increase.

 

Thanks for the tip with potential crashes.

[GKIye]

Accept my respect to You

But 7500 simultaneous listeners isn't logical, neather it is realistic

.. a 1 gigabit connection should serve approx 7500 sim listeners @128k mp3 ...

Secondly, hire a "reseller server" at a provider, its the best thing you can do

[djsoft]

Thanks. To a degree I'm governed by the outgoing 'pipe' size... a 1 gigabit connection should serve approx 7500 sim listeners @128k mp3, although if I use aac that bitrate can drop and sim listeners increase.

Well, in theory, it may support 7.5k listeners, but in practice, I won't be so sure - I'd reduce the number by at least 20%. I think I would do it this way: rent 3-4 (or more) servers and share the load between them. Icecast has the capability to redirect listeners to other servers when a certain number of listeners is connected to mount point, so when server 1 if full, listeners will go to server 2, when server 2 is full, they go to server 3 and so on (all this is automatic).

[Heyes]

Well, in theory, it may support 7.5k listeners, but in practice, I won't be so sure - I'd reduce the number by at least 20%. I think I would do it this way: rent 3-4 (or more) servers and share the load between them. Icecast has the capability to redirect listeners to other servers when a certain number of listeners is connected to mount point, so when server 1 if full, listeners will go to server 2, when server 2 is full, they go to server 3 and so on (all this is automatic).

 

Thanks.