Setup guide

Setup 3 — Multiple Properties

Five properties, one server: every player at every property connects to the same signage.yourdomain.com, and one admin login runs all five. Each property only needs outbound internet; nothing is opened at the properties themselves.

Where the server lives

Location Pros Cons Pick it when
Head office or the largest property Your hardware, no monthly bill, fast for that site That site’s internet and power become everyone’s dependency It has a static IP, a UPS and reliable internet
Small cloud VM (AWS Lightsail, DigitalOcean, etc.) Data-centre uptime, static IP included, no hardware A small monthly bill; you still run and patch it yourself No site has dependable internet, or none has a network room

Self-hosted at a property follows the Option C steps in 2 · Large Property (Glen Eden) exactly; the other four properties are just “off-site networks.” A cloud VM is the same build on a rented machine: it already has a public IP, so skip the port-forward and split-DNS steps.

How the five sites connect

                 signage.yourdomain.com  (public IP, TCP 443)
                             |
        ---------------- Internet ----------------
        |          |          |          |          |
   Property 1  Property 2  Property 3  Property 4  Property 5
   (server     router      router      router      router
    + split    outbound    outbound    outbound    outbound
    DNS)       443 only    443 only    443 only    443 only
        |          |          |          |          |
     players    players    players    players    players

No VPN between sites and no inbound ports at properties 2–5. Each player makes an outbound HTTPS call, which every business router already allows.

Organizing content across properties

  • Groups: put each property’s players in its own group (“Property 3 – Clubhouse”). Schedule a campaign to one screen, one group, or everything.
  • Shared vs local content: company-wide promotions go to all groups; each property’s events go only to its own.
  • Time zones: set each group’s time zone so “Happy hour 4–6 pm” means local time at every site.
  • Staff logins: give each property’s manager a login limited to their own group (installer TBD: role-based logins planned for 1.0).

Bandwidth

Players download a file once, then play it from disk. The traffic is the size of new content times the number of screens. Ten screens each getting a new 150 MB video is about 1.5 GB through the server’s upload link, spread over the sync window. A server on a slow upstream (under 10 Mbps up) should sync new videos overnight, or use a cloud VM.

When a property’s internet drops

Its screens keep playing their cached playlists, including scheduled day-parts, and catch up when the line returns. Only brand-new content waits. If a site has screens on the same LAN as the server (property 1), those carry on fully thanks to split DNS.

Alternatives to a public IP

If the server’s site can’t get a static IP, or you don’t want any open port, see 4 · Domain & Remote Access: Cloudflare Tunnel and WireGuard both work across five properties.