--- title: Multi-Party WebRTC Option 3's strategy is SFU description: Learn more about Multi-Party WebRTC Option 3's strategy, SFU, which stands for Selective Forwarding Unit image: https://blog.webrtc.ventures/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/The-Road-to-WebRTC-17.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://blog.webrtc.ventures/2018/07/multi-party-webrtc-option-3-sfu#main-content) ![WebRTC.ventures](https://blog.webrtc.ventures/hubfs/logo-main-light.svg) - [WebRTC Services](https://webrtc.ventures/webrtc-development-services/) Show submenu for WebRTC Services - [Assess](https://webrtc.ventures/services/assess/) - [Build](https://webrtc.ventures/services/build/) - [Integrate](https://webrtc.ventures/services/integrate/) - [Test](https://webrtc.ventures/services/test/) - [Manage](https://webrtc.ventures/services/manage/) - [Migrating From Twilio Video](https://webrtc.ventures/twilio-video/) - Our Partners Show submenu for Our Partners - [Amazon Chime SDK](https://webrtc.ventures/partners/amazon-chime-sdk/) - 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WebRTC Resources Show submenu for WebRTC Resources - [WebRTC Live](https://webrtc.ventures/webrtc-live/) - [WebRTC Tips](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLayYqdnyegt3QvxX-Rt6wbFIK8727Z5Oz) - [WebRTC.ventures Blog](https://webrtc.ventures/blog/) - [Migrating From Twilio Video](https://webrtc.ventures/twilio-video/) - [WebRTC.ventures Training Program](https://webrtc.ventures/webrtc-ventures-training-program/) - [About Us](https://webrtc.ventures/our-team/) Show submenu for About Us - [Blog](https://webrtc.ventures/blog/) - [Our Team](https://webrtc.ventures/our-team/) - [Jobs](https://webrtc.ventures/jobs/) - [Contact us](https://webrtc.ventures/contact/) [Contact us](https://webrtc.ventures/contact/) Jul 16, 2018 12:00:00 AM # Multi-Party WebRTC Option 3: SFU [Hector Zelaya](https://blog.webrtc.ventures/author/hector-zelaya) Share: [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.webrtc.ventures/2018/07/multi-party-webrtc-option-3-sfu) [X Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://blog.webrtc.ventures/2018/07/multi-party-webrtc-option-3-sfu) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://blog.webrtc.ventures/2018/07/multi-party-webrtc-option-3-sfu) Multi-Party WebRTC Option 3’s strategy is SFU, which stands for **Selective Forwarding Unit**. The idea behind SFU is similar to MCU. It has a media server in the middle to which all peers send their streams, only that instead of making any heavy processing on it, **the server routes them to other peers** so that they can make any needed processing. **This way the server doesn’t need to be a super powerful server with high specs, and you can take advantage of the goodies provided by MCU while avoiding the Mesh hassles and high costs associated with MCU.** This diagram below looks with SFU. [![](https://blog.webrtc.ventures/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Screenshot-2018-07-16-14_15_36.png?width=295&height=235&name=Screenshot-2018-07-16-14_15_36.png) ![](https://blog.webrtc.ventures/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Screenshot-2018-07-16-14_15_36.png?width=295&height=235&name=Screenshot-2018-07-16-14_15_36.png)](https://blog.webrtc.ventures/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Screenshot-2018-07-16-14_15_36.png) On an SFU architecture, **each peer sends its own stream to the media server, which in turn routes the streams to other peers.** Of course, this adds some overhead to the client side, which now has to encode/decode the media that sends/receives. Plus, **the download bandwidth increases as the number of users increase.** However, the media sever has a central point of control which **controls the media that is being routed in order to minimize the impact of those two problems**. This is where the “Selective” part on Selective Forwarding Unit comes to the rescue. Though heavy processing like decoding/encoding is not done on the server, **other tasks can be done with the media**. Basically the process done by the server can be summarized in three steps: [![](https://blog.webrtc.ventures/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Screenshot-2018-07-16-14_15_54-300x42-1.png?width=379&height=53&name=Screenshot-2018-07-16-14_15_54-300x42-1.png) ![](https://blog.webrtc.ventures/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Screenshot-2018-07-16-14_15_54-300x42-1.png?width=379&height=53&name=Screenshot-2018-07-16-14_15_54-300x42-1.png)](https://blog.webrtc.ventures/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Screenshot-2018-07-16-14_15_54-1.png) The media server receives the streams, selects what to do with it and finally sends it. **It’s possible to decide not to send a specific stream at all or apply techniques as Simulcast or SVC to selectively send specific types of stream according to the receiver.** For example, we can decide to send an 1080p video steam to a user that is on high spec computer and fast internet connection, while sending a 360p video steam to a user on a mobile device that is using a broadband connection. Despite the downsides, **SFU offers an architecture that doesn’t break as easily as Mesh and with a lower cost than MCU.** ## Want to learn more? To learn more about SFU and other ways to add users to your connection visit our website [here](https://webrtc.ventures/). 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