Hi Paul, you mentioned using Jitsi for video calls on your own server. I have been interested in private video conference abilities of my own. Do you need to have your own separate server to be able to use Jitsi in a private manner?
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Yes, you will need a place to host it. It is easy to run in Docker or Podman though, so if you have access to a server that supports either of those, then it is simple to set up. If you want assistance with setting it up, let me know. I’m also planning to publish a Jitsi service on the Start9 Community Registry once StartOS 0.3.6 is out, which will make the setup very simple at that point.
Gotcha. Thanks for answering. 
Do you have an idea of when 0.3.6 comes out? It would be nice to host Jitsi on Start 9.
I don’t think there is any official announcement yet. I can do a little speculating based on previous release history, though. Considering the historical pattern of updates, a move to 0.3.6 represents a “minor” update (e.g., 0.3.4 to 0.3.5). Bug-fixes tend to be released at a rate of every couple of months, and we can expect that minor updates are going to be somewhat longer than that after stabilization of the previous minor update, say 3-6 months. Since 0.3.5.x appears to have been considered stable by late 2024/early 2025 (as evidenced by when documentation began emphasizing it over 0.3.4.x), I think it would be reasonable to see 0.3.6 drop in mid-2025, say June or July.
Now, where this analysis might not hold water is if Start9 decided to refocus the efforts of their relatively small team of devs onto the next major release (0.4). This wouldn’t be completely out of the question, given the traction that LLMs have had recently, as well as a lot of new affordable AI-enabling hardware hitting the market. We know that one of Start9’s stated goals is democratizing AI, so it would make perfect sense for the company to shift focus a little at this particular unique point in history to supporting a new generation of server hardware that is AI-enabled.
Gotcha. Well, in that case, I might want to set up Jitsi on a separate server to be able to use it sooner.
So, when you have Jitsi set up, are you able to host a meeting with someone else who does not have the Jitsi service set up already on their PC or Mac? Or do they have to have the service themselves to be able to join a meeting?
The great thing about Jitsi is that it supports the main browsers. If someone wants to install a dedicated app, I do believe they support specifying the server to connect with, but that isn’t necessary. They just need to grant access to the microphone and camera when prompted.
Fantastic! Thanks so much for the information Paul!.
Hey Paul, I thought I’d ask you a little more about setting up Jitsi privately. In reference to your statement above, “access to a server supporting either Docker or Podman”, I wanted to figure out getting this set up. I’m really unfamiliar with information about servers - I own the Start9 mini server, but I’ve never owned any other servers. I get my hosting for my home business through KnownHost, and I think they have information about server use, but I’ve never looked into it. Do you suggest going through a third party to obtain the use of a private server or purchasing your own private server?
I took a quick look at what KnownHost offers. Do you have a Shared Hosting plan or one of the VPS, Clound, or Dedicated Hosting plans? I think a shared hosting scenario (where you don’t have root access to the server) would be hit-or-miss depending on how locked down it is and how helpful the company is with things like opening ports in the firewall.
Hey Paul, I’m trying to clarify exactly what I have with a support ticket, and I’ll get back to you when I get these specifics for you. Thanks for your patience.
So, my plan is a VPS with 6GB RAM, 150GB Disk Space, 4TB Bandwidth and 4 Cores.
That should be a good size to handle it plus some other applications or services along-side if needed.
From Jitsi’s documentation, it looks like minimum requirements are 2 cores (4 recommended), 4 GB RAM ,(8 GB recommended), 20 GB storage, and 1Gbit/s.
They didn’t mention monthly data limits, but some back of the napkin calculations:
HD video (720p) typically requires around 2-3 Mbps per user for a good experience.
- Inbound to the server = 2 Mbps Ă— 10 = 20 Mbps
- Outbound from the server = 2 Mbps Ă— (10 - 1) Ă— 10 = 180 Mbps
- Total throughput during the call ~ 200 Mbps
200 Mbps = 25 MB/s = 25 Ă— 3600 = 90,000 MB/hr = 90 GB/hr
If you have 1 such 1-hour call each workday (20 days/month), that’s 90 GB × 20 = 1.8 TB/month
Awesome Paul. Thanks again for your help. I’m wanting to have the ability to have the best privacy experience when talking with friends on occasion. So, this would likely work well. 