Is There Shared Hosting That Runs FFMPEG?

The Grand Potentate

Well-known member
Since we finally installed the media gallery I've been looking into FFMPEG and none of the hosting providers seem to deal with this. Do you need your own dedicated server setup to have this installed?
 
I'd be VERY leery of any shared host that purports to support ffmpeg. The conversion process for uploaded video is very resource intensive to begin with and with the typical "oversold" position that most hosting providers take (shared) you will probably find that your performance leaves just a little to be desired.
 
I'd be VERY leery of any shared host that purports to support ffmpeg. The conversion process for uploaded video is very resource intensive to begin with and with the typical "oversold" position that most hosting providers take (shared) you will probably find that your performance leaves just a little to be desired.
It's what I'm gathering through research into this. I guess the media gallery is only for big forums.
 
It's what I'm gathering through research into this. I guess the media gallery is only for big forums.
Not at all. Mine is a small forum, I was just fed up with shared hosting so moved to a VPS.

Video uploads isn't a requirement for the Media Gallery, I used it for a long time before the feature was introduced. In fact, pretty much all of the media on my site are either uploaded images or remotely hosted videos from the likes of YouTube and Twitch.
 
I'd be VERY leery of any shared host that purports to support ffmpeg. The conversion process for uploaded video is very resource intensive to begin with and with the typical "oversold" position that most hosting providers take (shared) you will probably find that your performance leaves just a little to be desired.

It's actually the other way around normally. It isn't necessarily that the user's performance will suffer, it's that the server will suffer as a result of someone using ffmpeg, as it is extremely CPU intensive. You can't have performance suffer for your users because somebody wants to convert huge video files all day. That is why most hosts don't support ffmpeg.
 
It's actually the other way around normally. It isn't necessarily that the user's performance will suffer, it's that the server will suffer as a result of someone using ffmpeg, as it is extremely CPU intensive. You can't have performance suffer for your users because somebody wants to convert huge video files all day. That is why most hosts don't support ffmpeg.
That's what I said silly! :D
The server performance suffers, ergo the customer (the shared hosting purchaser) has an impact on everyone on the shared hosting. I'd hate to see how quickly it (the server) would be brought to it's knees if every customer of theirs started processing a large video upload at one time. Once the server resources start being used heavily - unless they offload some services - you will notice a definite impact on site performance on those servers.
 
You don't need to have FFMPEG installed on the server to have XMG fully working.
All you have to do is download the single binary of FFMPEG, upload it on your server and point it on your XMG admin Option.
Can be downloaded here: https://johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg/
 
That is not going to work in a shared environment (unless someone is insane and gives shared users shell access) and if you read the first paragraph on that page you will see an important little bit...
Welcome! These static builds of FFmpeg for Linux (kernels 2.6.32+) are the easiest way to get the latest version running on your server or workstation. Each archive includes ffmpeg, ffmpeg-10bit, ffprobe, ffserver, qt-faststart, and all the man pages in both text and pdf format. Just unpack and run ./ffmpeg
 
Do you need your own dedicated server setup to have this installed?
You're talking about $10 - $20 per month to have your own dedicated resources to do this... and it really isn't hard to do.

https://www.linode.com/pricing

There are plenty of hosts out there nowadays, giving you serious help to run self managed hosting so you can do awesome stuff, like your own media streaming. Oh... and SSD cloud infrastructure.

The help docs on companies like Linode, Digital Ocean, A2Hosting, and so on, it takes you a few hours of learning + doing to have a full server setup, running and secured. You then learn a little more as you go... but otherwise, a server shouldn't need to be touched once setup and fully functional.
 
Oh... and if you want to get even easier, install the system, then install WHM, and whilst in the free trial period, get it fully functional and locked down, then do nothing more. Your server will run normally with your sites, you just can't use WHM to manage sites or such until you purchase a license. If you really are skint on $$$, pay for a month $20, then let it expire and cancel the renewal. Again... everything runs until you need to use WHM to manage anything, and obviously won't be able to update it without a valid license.
 
It's what I'm gathering through research into this. I guess the media gallery is only for big forums

I wouldn't say that. Sure, most providers don't and won't offer ffmpeg on a shared hosting environment due to the resources it consumes. It really just isn't shared-friendly but if you opt for a VPS (be it a cheaper unmanaged or fully managed VPS), you should be able to get ffmpeg on your server just fine. No need for a powerful dedicated server which will break the bank :).
 
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