Minimum client machine specs for running big blue button in a browser (Chrome or firefox)

Wilson Abraham

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Sep 15, 2021, 6:47:20 PM9/15/21

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Hi all,

We have our trainers providing virtual classrooms for students on big blue button and the client machines i.e. trainer machines seem to be not coping and lags while performing multiple operations eg. while sharing documents (spreadsheets or word documents) in the room and working in it . Has anyone else faced something similar and if you did what was the workaround.

We have AMD A9-9420, A4-7210, OR A6-6310 processors, with HDD and 8GB RAM running on our trainer laptops which are a bit old. They are dual core machines capable of running 2 threads.

I couldn't find any information on what exactly are the minimum spec requirements for client machines. Such as in terms of processors or RAM on BIg blue button website. Would the above mentioned processors we have meet the minimum spec requirements?

Any help would be appreciated in terms of figuring out if an upgrade of machines is required .

Thanks

Wilson Abraham

Primo Geek

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Oct 11, 2021, 10:30:09 AM10/11/21

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What I love about old gear is that you can pair it with newer gear to get what you're missing functionally.

For applications that older laptops can't tolerate, I tend to spin up a vm or, in a pinch, set up a server (for multiple connections) dedicated to presenting. That way the old gear is just a jumping off point to better gear.

I do see where doing a heavily html5'd page will cause older laptops to have issues, though even in that case I'd try puppy linux or something similar/small and see if that can handle the load. If it's just presenting on BBB, don't need AD.

As a matter of fact, my BBB is integrated into my NextCloud instance so almost everything is on the server-side anyway, meaning if you can slim down the OS requirements and what's needed to browser-based access (mail, bbb, etc.), you can really make that 8 gig ram and 2 threads work for you better ;)

Would love to hear your thoughts, and would also be able to help with the integration. Only one docker -it command needed to change the secret to be nice and secure, too!

-Jack

Lee Cujes

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Oct 21, 2021, 11:00:44 PM10/21/21

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Hi all

Like Wilson, we are definitely interested in trying to find out the minimum requirements of moderator machines, especially when screen sharing. We have hundreds of moderators spread out all over the country, and we need to ensure they can all provide a consistent student experience.

We are finding that when moderators commence screensharing, in some cases their machines go to 99 or 100% CPU and essentially cease operating. The frustrating thing is that these same machines handle screensharing on Zoom without issues and so culturally, we are fighting the battle of "why are we using BBB when we could simply use Zoom". Without quality information about machine spec requirements and why we are seeing this undesirable behaviour, it's hard for us to move forward.

Comments very welcome.

Kind Regards

Lee Cujes

Juan Pablo Miranda

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Oct 23, 2021, 10:09:59 PM10/23/21

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Hi all.

Based on my experience, I think that having a good internet connection is just as important as having a good machine. And not only for its speed but also and above all for its stability.
A connection via Wi-Fi is not stable. It is preferable to use ethernet cable.
Reading text is not the same as transmitting and receiving audio and video streams in real time.
In this sense, the bandwidth and the geographic location of the server are also very important, as long as it meets the minimum requirements according to the developer. We cannot equate to Zoom who surely has clusters around the world. We have a single server in most cases and its geographical location is important. That is, it is not the same to have the server in Asia if we connect from South America than if it were in our same continent.
Taking these considerations into account, both for a moderator as for any user, a machine capable of handling a current operating system and an updated browser, must be perfectly capable of connecting to our BBB server fluently.

Greetings

JP

Lee Cujes

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Oct 24, 2021, 5:52:57 PM10/24/21

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Thanks for your comments JP. I agree internet connection quality is a key factor and I posted recently on the topic of better understanding internet requirements and the newly implemented connection status icon.