Dedicated Server for Streaming vs VPS: When to Upgrade

You stream with OBS, maybe to more than one platform, maybe around the clock, and you want to know whether a VPS will hold or whether you need a dedicated server for streaming. Three numbers decide it, and you can work all of them out before you pay for anything: how many outputs leave the server at the same time, whether the server encodes video or only forwards it, and how much you record.

Quick answer: Most streams do not need a dedicated server. A VPS or a streaming VPS handles one 24/7 channel, a relay that forwards one stream to several platforms without re-encoding it, and OBS with a few sources. A dedicated server earns its price when the machine has to re-encode several outputs at once, when many client channels must stay isolated from each other, or when you need hardware encoding on a graphics card of your own. Before you choose, multiply your outputs by their bitrate: three outputs at 6 Mbps send about 5.8 TB in 30 days.

Do you need a dedicated server for streaming?

Start from what the server does, not from how many channels you have.

The rest of this post is the arithmetic behind each row, so you can check your own case.

Count concurrent outputs, not channels

Every destination is its own copy of the video leaving the server. One channel sent to three platforms at 6 Mbps is 18 Mbps of upload for every second you are live.

Bitrates to plug in, from the platforms' own settings:

• Twitch: the Twitch entry in OBS's built-in service list sets a maximum video bitrate of 6,000 Kbps.
• YouTube: for 1080p at 60 fps with H.264, YouTube lists a minimum of 6 Mbps and a recommended 17 Mbps. For 1440p at 60 fps with H.264 the recommendation is 34 Mbps. Audio: 128 Kbps for stereo.
• Facebook Live: OBS's service list caps 1080p at 60 fps at 9,000 Kbps.

The sum: divide Mbps by 8 to get MB per second, multiply by 3,600 for an hour, by 24 for a day and by 30 for a month. Shortcut: every 1 Mbps you send nonstop is 324 GB in 30 days.

Worked example: 3 outputs at 6 Mbps = 18 Mbps = 2.25 MB/s = 8.1 GB an hour = 194.4 GB a day = 5,832 GB, about 5.8 TB in 30 days.

These are video bitrates in decimal units (1 TB = 1,000 GB). Audio adds a little: 128 Kbps nonstop is about 41 GB per output in 30 days. The sums count only what leaves the server; on a relay, your stream from OBS also arrives as incoming traffic.

Now compare that with the monthly transfer on our VPS plans, as listed on 4 November 2026:

Three 6 Mbps outputs fit in any 10 TB plan with room to spare. Swap one of them for YouTube at its recommended 17 Mbps for 1080p60 and you use 9.4 TB of a 10 TB allowance in 30 days and 9.7 TB in a 31-day month, which leaves little room once audio is added. A single YouTube stream at the 1440p60 recommendation needs an XL or bigger. The VPS plans list a 1 Gbps port; 29 Mbps is under 3 percent of that, so on a relay the monthly transfer runs out long before the port speed matters. Our streaming VPS plans do not list a monthly transfer figure, so ask support before you plan a heavy multistream on one.

A relay that copies costs upload, not CPU

If OBS on your own PC does the encoding and the server only forwards the result, the server never decodes or encodes anything. FFmpeg calls this stream copy: -c copy copies packets "without decoding, filtering, or encoding them", and the FFmpeg documentation adds that "it is very fast and there is no quality loss". With an RTMP server such as NGINX-RTMP receiving your OBS stream on the VPS (the setup is in our multistreaming guide), one FFmpeg command per destination forwards it:

ffmpeg -i rtmp://127.0.0.1/live/in -c copy -f flv "rtmp://euc10.contribute.live-video.net/app/YOUR_TWITCH_KEY"
ffmpeg -i rtmp://127.0.0.1/live/in -c copy -f flv "rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/YOUR_YOUTUBE_KEY"

rtmp://127.0.0.1/live/in is a placeholder for wherever your RTMP server publishes the incoming stream. The Twitch address is the Frankfurt ingest from OBS's service list; pick the one nearest the server. Each command keeps running for as long as the stream does, so start each one in its own terminal or tmux window, or as its own service. Each of these processes uses one output's worth of upload and very little CPU. The moment you drop -c copy to give each platform its own resolution or bitrate, every output becomes a full encode, and that is the row in the table where a dedicated server starts to make sense.

How much disk recordings need

The same arithmetic applies to recordings. A 6 Mbps recording is 0.75 MB/s, 2.7 GB an hour and 64.8 GB a day, so a 120 GB disk is full in under two days, and sooner because the operating system takes part of it. Record at YouTube's recommended 17 Mbps for 1080p60 and it is 7.65 GB an hour, 183.6 GB a day. Shortcut: GB per hour = Mbps × 0.45.

If you record on the server, rotate the files. This removes recordings older than 24 hours (1,440 minutes); run it once without -delete first to see what it would remove, and adjust the folder and extension to yours:

find /srv/recordings -type f -name '*.mp4' -mmin +1440 -delete

Put the same line in crontab with 0 * * * * in front to run it every hour, and check free space with df -h /. The disks on our VPS ladder run from 20 GB to 300 GB, and 300 GB holds about four and a half days of one 6 Mbps recording. For an archive you keep, size the disk with the sum above or move the files off the server.

Where a VPS runs out

• CPU: VPS vCores run on physical cores that other virtual machines on the host also use (our VPS-M, for example, lists "Shared vCores, dedicated RAM"). For a relay that copies, this barely matters. For a software encode it shows up as OBS's "encoding overloaded" warning when the CPU cannot keep up. More on that in shared vCPU vs dedicated CPU.
• RAM: fixed per plan, from 2 GB to 48 GB on our VPS ladder. Several OBS instances, FFmpeg processes and a browser source add up.
• Disk: fixed per plan, see the recording sum above.
• Transfer: the monthly allowance, see the output sum above. For a 24/7 relay this is usually the first limit you meet.

When a dedicated server is worth it

• Several re-encoded outputs at the same time, such as a quality ladder or different settings per platform
• Many client channels that need isolation from each other
• A game server and the stream on the same machine
• Hardware encoding on a graphics card of your own
• A recording or VOD archive bigger than a VPS disk

A dedicated server is a whole physical machine for one customer: no other virtual machines share its CPU cores, memory or disks. If you are weighing it against streaming from your own PC instead, see dedicated streaming server vs home PC.

Read the warnings before you upgrade

OBS tells you which limit you hit, and only one of them is fixed by a bigger server.

• "Encoding overloaded": the encoder cannot keep up. The OBS knowledge base suggests lowering the output resolution under Settings > Video, or dropping from 60 fps to 30. If the stream has to stay at that quality and the plan is already the biggest that fits your budget, that is the point to move to more CPU or a dedicated machine.
• Dropped frames: in OBS's words, this "means that your connection to remote server isn't stable or you can't keep up with your set bitrate", and dropping too many can disconnect you. When OBS runs on your home PC, a bigger server does not fix this. OBS suggests 75 percent of your total upload speed as a starting bitrate, and testing with another service, for example YouTube if you normally stream to Twitch.

As a rough guide for OBS running on the server, look at average CPU on a heavy streaming day:

• Under 60%: stay on the VPS, you have headroom.
• 60 to 80%: watch it, and upgrade before a big event.
• Over 80%: upgrade now; "encoding overloaded" on busy days is likely.

Moving from a VPS to a dedicated machine

Space-Node sells VPS plans and builds dedicated streaming machines on request. Moving over is a normal migration: set up and test the new server, copy your media, scripts and OBS or FFmpeg config across, then switch the stream over at a quiet moment. How long that takes depends mostly on how much data you move. As of 4 November 2026, Standard VPS plans start at €4.99 a month and Premium VPS at €4.20 a month, and our streaming VPS plans with OBS pre-installed start at €9.99. The custom dedicated build on the streaming page starts from €89 a month plus a one-time setup fee, and you get the hardware and delivery time in writing before you pay; ask for a quote through contact.

FAQ

Is a dedicated server better than a VPS for streaming?

Only when the work needs it. A relay that copies the stream does the same job on a VPS, because stream copy skips decoding and encoding. A dedicated server is better when several encodes run at once, when client channels need isolation, when you need hardware encoding on a graphics card of your own, or when your archive outgrows a VPS disk.

How much bandwidth does a 24/7 stream use?

One output at 6 Mbps sent nonstop is 2.7 GB an hour, 64.8 GB a day and about 1.94 TB in 30 days. Multiply by the number of outputs: three platforms at 6 Mbps come to about 5.8 TB. Our bandwidth cost analysis has more bitrates and what they mean for plan choice.

Does a streaming VPS have its own graphics card?

Usually not. On our streaming plans the graphics are mostly shared and differ per machine: Stone has shared integrated graphics, Gold and Platinum integrated graphics (shared or their own), Emerald usually a mini PC with its own integrated graphics, and Diamond and Sapphire usually a shared graphics card. For a graphics card of your own, open a support ticket or ask for a custom build quote.

Can one VPS relay to several platforms at once?

Yes. Send one stream from OBS to the VPS and forward it to each platform with stream copy, as in the commands above. Each destination adds its full bitrate to your upload and your monthly transfer, but very little CPU. The multistreaming guide walks through the NGINX-RTMP setup.

What does a dedicated streaming server cost?

There is no fixed list, because the machine is built for what you stream. As of 4 November 2026, Space-Node's custom dedicated build starts from €89 a month plus a one-time setup fee, quoted with the build. A VPS that only relays starts at €4.20 a month, so check the sums above before you pay for hardware you do not use.

Sources

All opened on 4 November 2026:

• YouTube Help, Choose live encoder settings, bitrates, and resolutions: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853702?hl=en
• OBS Studio 33.0.1, rtmp-services service list (services.json): https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio/blob/33.0.1/plugins/rtmp-services/data/services.json
• OBS knowledge base, Stream Connection Troubleshooting: https://obsproject.com/kb/stream-connection-troubleshooting
• OBS knowledge base, Encoding Performance Troubleshooting: https://obsproject.com/kb/encoding-performance-troubleshooting
• FFmpeg documentation, stream copy: https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.html
• find(1) manual page: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/find.1.html
• Space-Node VPS plans and transfer: https://space-node.net/vps-hosting
• Space-Node streaming plans and custom build: https://space-node.net/streaming

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