Developer Picks WebRTC SFU Architecture After Evaluating Four Real-Time Streaming Options

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A developer was tasked with building a screen-sharing feature allowing teachers to present slides and let remote users control navigation via a web app, requiring near-zero latency. Initial ideas using HLS or RTMP were ruled out because their multi-second delays made interactive slide control impractical. With a two-week deadline, the developer researched architectures used by companies like Twitch, Slack, and Discord, narrowing the options to Mesh, MCU, SFU, and a hybrid approach. A Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU) was chosen as the best fit, since it routes streams through a central server without heavy media processing, keeping latency low and server load manageable. Mesh networking, MCU, and the hybrid model were each discarded due to excessive CPU overhead, added latency, or implementation complexity within the tight timeline.

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