Python is a versatile and accessible programming language that is known for its clear syntax and readability
This makes it a good choice for building webrtc applications
We can build a WebRTC server in python by using libraries such as aiortc
aortic library
- Pure python Implementation:
- The
aiortc
library is a pure python implementation of WebRTC and ORTC. - This means that you do not need to depend on any third party library or any other dependencies
- The
- Built on
asyncio
:- The
aiortc
is built on top of python's ownasyncio
library for async connections. - Thus allowing you to handle multiple concurrent connections easily
- The
- Media and data channels:
- The library provides support for Video, audio as well as data channels, thus enabling a wide range of real time communication features.
- Ease of Integration:
aiortc
can be easily integrated with other python libraries such asaiohttp
for web server as well as other third party libraries such assocket.io
for real time event handling
- Extensive documentation and examples:
- the library
aiortc
comes with extensive documentation and different examples that can help you get started quickly
- the library
Setting Up a WebRTC Server in Python
Pre-requisites
- Python 3.x Installed:
- Make sure that you have the Python 3.x installed on your computer or server. You can check the python version like so
python3 --version
- Basic Knowledge of async programming:
- You need basic knowledge of how asynchronous programming works.
- We are going to use the
async
library in this article which is important for simultaneous connections and data streams
Installing necessary libraries
using pip
to install aiortc
and other dependencies
aiortc
is a pure python implementation of webrtcand ORTC. It uses python language async features to handle the real time communication
Install the libraries using pip like so
pip install aiortc aiohttp
aiorrtc
provides the core WebRTC functionalityaiohttp
is an asynchronous HTTP client/server framework, we are going to use this framework for signalling
Metered TURN Server
- API: TURN server management with powerful API. You can do things like Add/ Remove credentials via the API, Retrieve Per User / Credentials and User metrics via the API, Enable/ Disable credentials via the API, Retrive Usage data by date via the API.
- Global Geo-Location targeting: Automatically directs traffic to the nearest servers, for lowest possible latency and highest quality performance. less than 50 ms latency anywhere around the world
- Servers in all the Regions of the world: Toronto, Miami, San Francisco, Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt, Bangalore, Singapore,Sydney, Seoul, Dallas, New York
- Low Latency: less than 50 ms latency, anywhere across the world.
- Cost-Effective: pay-as-you-go pricing with bandwidth and volume discounts available.
- Easy Administration: Get usage logs, emails when accounts reach threshold limits, billing records and email and phone support.
- Standards Compliant: Conforms to RFCs 5389, 5769, 5780, 5766, 6062, 6156, 5245, 5768, 6336, 6544, 5928 over UDP, TCP, TLS, and DTLS.
- Multi‑Tenancy: Create multiple credentials and separate the usage by customer, or different apps. Get Usage logs, billing records and threshold alerts.
- Enterprise Reliability: 99.999% Uptime with SLA.
- Enterprise Scale: With no limit on concurrent traffic or total traffic. Metered TURN Servers provide Enterprise Scalability
- 5 GB/mo Free: Get 5 GB every month free TURN server usage with the Free Plan
- Runs on port 80 and 443
- Support TURNS + SSL to allow connections through deep packet inspection firewalls.
- Supports both TCP and UDP
- Free Unlimited STUN
Developing the server
- Setting up signalling with WebSockets
WebRTC needs a signalling mechanism in order to establish a connection.
WebRTC does this by exchanging SDP or session descriptions and ICE candidates between peers
For this, you can use anything. In this article we are going to use WebSockets for real time bi directional communication between client and server
Signalling setup ( Server code)
- Handling Peer Connections and Media streams
Here we are going to create RTCPeerConnection
object to manage the connection and the media streams
Server code example (Peer Connection)
- Incorporating TURN servers into ICE configuration
To handle the NAT traversal and ensure connectivity we need TURN servers.
In this article we are going with Metered TURN servers. Metered is a Global provider of TURN server
You can sign up for a free plan on Metered TURN servers that offers 50 GB monthly TURN server quota and there are paid plans also available
Steps:
- Obtain the Credentials
Sign Up on Metered.ca/stun-turn and get your TURN credentials
On the Dashboard click on the Click here to generate your first credential
button to create a new TURN server credential
Then click on the Instructions button to get your ICE server array.
You can also use the api key to enable TURN servers
- Configure the ICE servers
- Code Example illustrating the Key streps
Here is how we can integrate everything here
Practical Implementation Tips
Network Considerations
- Managing NAT traversal with Metered.ca STUN/TURN Servers
- STUN Servers: These help the client devices that are behind a NAT know their own IP address and port number. To learn more about STUN servers go to Stun Server: What is Session Traversal Utilities for NAT?
- TURN Servers: TURN servers relay traffic from peer to per when direct communication is not possible due to NAT or firewall rules. To learn more about TURN servers go to: What is a TURN server?
- Ensuring Reliable and Low latency Connections
- Automatic Geographic routing: Metered.ca has automatic geographical routing
Performance Optimization
- Using
asyncio
for concurrency management - Media streams management best practices
- API: TURN server management with powerful API. You can do things like Add/ Remove credentials via the API, Retrieve Per User / Credentials and User metrics via the API, Enable/ Disable credentials via the API, Retrive Usage data by date via the API.
- Global Geo-Location targeting: Automatically directs traffic to the nearest servers, for lowest possible latency and highest quality performance. less than 50 ms latency anywhere around the world
- Servers in all the Regions of the world: Toronto, Miami, San Francisco, Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt, Bangalore, Singapore,Sydney, Seoul, Dallas, New York
- Low Latency: less than 50 ms latency, anywhere across the world.
- Cost-Effective: pay-as-you-go pricing with bandwidth and volume discounts available.
- Easy Administration: Get usage logs, emails when accounts reach threshold limits, billing records and email and phone support.
- Standards Compliant: Conforms to RFCs 5389, 5769, 5780, 5766, 6062, 6156, 5245, 5768, 6336, 6544, 5928 over UDP, TCP, TLS, and DTLS.
- Multi‑Tenancy: Create multiple credentials and separate the usage by customer, or different apps. Get Usage logs, billing records and threshold alerts.
- Enterprise Reliability: 99.999% Uptime with SLA.
- Enterprise Scale: With no limit on concurrent traffic or total traffic. Metered TURN Servers provide Enterprise Scalability
- 5 GB/mo Free: Get 5 GB every month free TURN server usage with the Free Plan
- Runs on port 80 and 443
- Support TURNS + SSL to allow connections through deep packet inspection firewalls.
- Supports both TCP and UDP
- Free Unlimited STUN