SRS Open Source Streaming Server | Generated by AI
Question: Give a comprehensive introduction to SRS, the Simple RTMP Streaming open-source project.
Answer:
SRS (Simple Realtime Server) is one of the most popular and widely used open-source real-time media streaming servers.
It started primarily as a high-performance RTMP server but has evolved into a very capable, all-protocol real-time streaming gateway.
Basic Information
- Full name: Simple Realtime Server (originally focused heavily on RTMP)
- License: MIT (very permissive open-source license)
- Main repository: https://github.com/ossrs/srs
- Official website: https://ossrs.net/
- Primary language: C++ (with some scripts and tools in other languages)
- Current status (2026): Very active project, widely used in production by many companies (especially in China), and continuously adding modern streaming features
Core Features
SRS supports a rich set of streaming protocols in one single process:
- Classic protocols
- RTMP (push & pull)
- HTTP-FLV (very popular in China)
- HTTP-TS
- HLS (Apple HTTP Live Streaming)
- Modern ultra-low latency protocols
- WebRTC (very important since ~2020–2021)
- SRT (Secure Reliable Transport)
- Other important protocols
- MPEG-DASH
- GB28181 (very important for Chinese national standard surveillance cameras)
Typical Latency Comparison (approximate values in good network conditions)
| Protocol | Typical Latency | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| RTMP | 2–5 seconds | Traditional live streaming (OBS → YouTube/Twitch-like) |
| HLS | 5–30 seconds | Broad compatibility, VOD-like |
| HTTP-FLV | 2–5 seconds | Flash-era replacement, very popular in browsers in Asia |
| WebRTC | 0.3–1.0 second | Interactive live, gaming, auction, surveillance |
| SRT | 0.5–2 seconds | Contribution / low-latency transport over bad networks |
Common Architecture Patterns Using SRS
- Simplest RTMP server (most people start here)
OBS/FFmpeg → RTMP → SRS → HLS/HTTP-FLV/WebRTC → viewers - Low-latency delivery
OBS → RTMP → SRS → WebRTC → browser (sub-second latency) - Edge + Origin cluster
Many edge SRS (HTTP-FLV/WebRTC) ← cluster pull ← origin SRS (ingest RTMP/SRT/GB28181) - WebRTC ↔ RTMP conversion SRS can convert between WebRTC and RTMP in both directions.
Key Advantages of SRS
- Very high performance — single process can handle thousands of concurrent streams
- Extremely low memory usage compared to many alternatives
- Excellent stability in long-running production (many servers run for years without restart)
- Very active Chinese community (most issues/PRs/docs in Chinese, but English support improving)
- Docker images are well maintained and widely used
- Can compile & run on almost all Linux distributions, and has good ARM64 support
Who Uses SRS?
- Many Chinese live streaming platforms (parts of Douyu, Huya, Bilibili infrastructure inspiration)
- Video surveillance companies (especially GB28181 support)
- Small/medium live streaming startups
- Educational & church live streaming setups
- Many developers who want sub-second latency without commercial CDNs
Quick Start (most common way in 2026)
# Fastest way - Docker
docker run --rm -it -p 1935:1935 -p 1985:1985 -p 8080:8080 ossrs/srs:5
Then push stream:
ffmpeg -re -i test.mp4 -c copy -f flv rtmp://localhost/live/livestream
Play:
- HLS: http://your-ip:8080/live/livestream.m3u8
- HTTP-FLV: http://your-ip:8080/live/livestream.flv
- WebRTC: use the demo player on http://your-ip:8080/
SRS remains one of the best choices when you want an open-source, high-performance, multi-protocol real-time streaming server — especially if you need RTMP ingestion + WebRTC/HLS delivery in the same box.
References: