ZLMediaKit: A powerful and flexible media server and streaming solution

Every industry has seen a significant increase in media and video content in previous years, highlighting the need for reliable, flexible, and powerful media server solutions. ZLMediaKit, an open-source GitHub project, addresses this critical need, offering a versatile and encompassing media server framework. It utilises popular network protocols to deliver unrivaled streaming capabilities.

Project Overview:

ZLMediaKit's primary aim is creating a high-performing media server framework that supports multiple network protocols, including RTP, RTMP, RTSP, HLS, and HTTP-FLV. This widespread network protocol support enables online real-time broadcasting, live broadcasting, and VoIP, serving a broad base of users ranging from small businesses to large, resource-intensive corporations.

Project Features:

One of ZLMediaKit's most distinguishing features is its network protocol support. Facilitating RTP/RTMP/RTSP/HLS/HTTP-FLV, it is one of the most versatile media servers available on the market. Additionally, it performs high efficiency with low resource usage. A simple example could be running 1000 channels on a cloud server, consuming only one core cpu, less than 100M bandwidth, and few dozens of MB memory. Furthermore, ZLMediaKit does not abandon older protocols like RTMP and focuses on improving their efficiency and usage alongside emerging protocols.

Technology Stack:

Created in C++, ZLMediaKit leverages the efficiency and power of this versatile language, making it compatible with a wide range of applications and environments. Specifically, the project utilises such libraries as ZLToolKit, a high-performance network framework library, SSL support through OpenSSL, and MySQL integration, among other tools, making the project highly extendable.

Project Structure and Architecture:

ZLMediaKit's architecture is designed to be highly scalable and easily extendable. The primary source directory contains separate modules for each functionality, such as players, pushers, and recorders. Each module runs independently but can interact with each other seamlessly when required. This modular design ensures the desired scalability and enables easy customization based on specific needs.