🎥 Real-Time Multi-Party Video Calling System

A professional-grade, microservices-based video conferencing platform built with Next.js, Mediasoup (SFU), and Socket.io. This project demonstrates a scalable architecture for handling high-quality, low-latency media streams with production-grade observability.

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🏗️ Architecture Overview

The system is built on a distributed microservices model to ensure scalability and separation of concerns.

1. High-Level System Architecture (gRPC Powered)

This diagram shows how external traffic is routed through the Nginx gateway and how internal services communicate via gRPC.

graph TD
    User((User/Browser))
    Nginx[Nginx Gateway :80]
    UI[Next.js UI :3000]
    Gateway[API Gateway :4000]
    Signaling[Signaling Service :5000]
    Media[Media Service SFU :6000]
    DB[(PostgreSQL)]
    Redis[(Redis Cache)]
    Consul[Consul Service Discovery]
    Prom[Prometheus/Grafana]

    User -->|HTTP/WS| Nginx
    Nginx -->|/| UI
    Nginx -->|/api| Gateway
    Gateway -->|Forward| Signaling
    Gateway -->|Forward| Media
    
    Signaling <-->|SQL| DB
    Signaling <-->|State| Redis
    Signaling <-->|gRPC :50051| Media
    
    Signaling & Media & Gateway -->|Register| Consul
    Prom -->|Scrape| Signaling & Media & Gateway

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2. Internal Communication: REST vs gRPC

Feature	Direct REST (Old)	gRPC (Current)
Signaling ↔ Media	HTTP POST (20-50ms)	gRPC (2-5ms)
Serialization	JSON (Slow/Bulky)	Protobuf (Fast/Compact)
Type Safety	Runtime only	Compile-time (Proto)

3. Service Communication & Call Flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant C as Client (Browser)
    participant S as Signaling Service
    participant M as Media Service (SFU)
    participant DB as PostgreSQL

    C->>S: Join Room (Socket.io)
    S->>DB: Check/Create Room
    S->>M: gRPC: GetRouterCapabilities
    M-->>S: rtpCapabilities
    S-->>C: Room Joined + Capabilities

    Note over C,M: WebRTC Transport Negotiation
    C->>S: Create WebRtcTransport
    S->>M: gRPC: CreateTransport
    M-->>S: params
    S-->>C: params
    
    C->>M: DTLS/ICE Connection (UDP: 40000-40100)
    C->>S: Produce Media
    S->>M: gRPC: Produce
    M-->>S: producerId
    S-->>C: producerId
    S->>C: Notify other peers (newProducer)

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🛠️ Advanced Features

📊 Observability Stack

The project includes a full monitoring and discovery suite:

• Consul: Automated service discovery and health checks.
• Prometheus: Real-time metrics collection from all microservices.
• Grafana: Pre-configured dashboards for monitoring system health and traffic.

📝 Ephemeral Logging System

• Structured Logging: A custom BackendLogger in the common library provides JSON-structured logs with timestamps and session tracking.
• Named Volumes: Logs are stored in a Docker Named Volume (backend_logs) that is automatically cleaned up with docker compose down -v.
• Log Viewer: Access all backend logs in real-time via the browser at:
  👉 http://localhost:9000

🎨 Premium UI Overhaul

• Modern Aesthetics: Dark-themed UI with advanced glassmorphism and smooth animations.
• Custom Design System: Refined typography, standardized icon sets (w-6 h-6), and polished interaction states.
• Real-time Chat: Fully integrated dark-themed chat with private messaging support.

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🚀 Development Progress

Completed Foundations (Phase 1 & 2)

• gRPC Migration: Internal service communication for low-latency negotiation.
• Microservices: Separation of API Gateway, Signaling, and Media services.
• SFU Stability: Fine-tuned Mediasoup worker configuration for multi-core scaling.
• Observability: Consul, Prometheus, and Grafana integration.
• Structured Logging: Centralized logging with browser-based access.
• Premium UI: Complete overhaul of the frontend user experience.

Scaling to Millions (Phase 3)

• Multi-Instance Scale: Distribute Mediasoup workers across multiple nodes.
• Redis Pub/Sub: Sync signaling states across different regions.
• STUN/TURN Cluster: Global bypass for restrictive firewalls.
• JWT Auth: Production-ready security for all endpoints.

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📄 License

MIT