Does Emby support serving ccocntent from multiple locations (i.e. CDN)

[EatSleepCodeDel 5]

Hi there,

Lately, I have found that my upstream internet connection is running out of bandwidth as multiple people are streaming remotely at the same time. I have access to a second internet connection (in another location). I have a couple of ideas on how I could utilise both internet connections to serve content, however, I am not sure if Emby will support some of these methods and was hoping for some guidence.

My ideas are:

Idea 1: Co-Located File Stores w/ Single Emby Instance (Preferred idea - But probably not possible)

• In Location A (LocA) I would have my main server with Emby installed, accessible over the internet at foo.com
• In Location B (LocB) I would store a file server that is mounted into Emby. This file server is not internet accessible (e.g. Behind a NAT).
• Through some magic files served from LocB would go directly to the client and not via the LocA Emby instance/internet connection.

If I mounted LocB files onto the LocA server (e.g. cifs/rclone/etc) and a user started streaming content from the LocB file server, the flow of traffic would be: LocB -> LocA -> client. This does not solve my issue as I want the flow to be LocB -> client.

I assume this is not possible?

Idea 2: Replicated Instances (Probably not data safe)

• LocA has a file store and Emby instance
• LocB has a file store and Emby instance
• Sync is setup to replicate content and config
• Load balancer at foo.com which routes users to the most free instance

I can see watch history, user settings, etc not being reliable particually if a client is bounced between instances. 2 way sync would also not be functional, probably. I can also see data corruption in the config files. I dont think this is a great idea either.

Idea 3: Replicated Content, Seperate Instances

• Sync content between LocA and LocB, each with a standalone/independant instance of Emby.
• Some users will be created on LocA, accessible at fooA.com, others created on LocB, accessible at fooB.com

Probably the safest way, though a lot duplicated manual work. I think I would probably need a second Emby Premier license too?

Misc Ideas:

• Upgrade my internet connection ($$$$)
• Stop using ancient hardware and get something that supports QSV and transcode on the fly at a lower bitrate ($$$$)
• Tell some of my users/family to suck it and get Netflix subscription

Any help or other ideas is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Luke 38825]

HI, option #1 would route through the Emby Server.

For option 3, you might, yes, or perhaps a single bigger one.

[pwhodges 1743]

6 hours ago, EatSleepCodeDel said:

I think I would probably need a second Emby Premier license too?

You can use one Premiere licence on multiple servers - the number of clients allowed is not multiplied up, of course.

Paul

[EatSleepCodeDel 5]

Thanks Luke and Paul! Figured as much for option 1.

 

Re licensing, how many seats does a standard license grant? And what's the cost for additional seats? I don't have many users (5 including myself), but obviously don't want to go over my usage, or abuse the system

 

[pwhodges 1743]

Standard Premiere licence is 25 devices (note, devices, not users).  Devices fall off the count about a week after their last use.  There is a n upgrade to 45 devices available.

https://emby.media/support/articles/Premiere-Limits.html

Paul