Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 21:16:07 -0800
Message-Id: <199703180516.VAA03518@puffin.eng.sun.com>
From: Marianne Mueller <mrm@eng.sun.com>
To: alexb@abie.com
Subject: Re: java and firewalls
Hi Alex,
I'm not sure we can advise you on the best way to structure your
backgammon game. I don't know what are the most important principles,
for designing internet interactive games.
Having said that ...
You could structure the client/server pair as an applet/servlet pair,
and take advantage of java-java communication, perhaps using RMI. See
http://jeeves.javasoft.com for info on the Java Web Server and
servlets, and see
http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.1/docs/guide/rmi/getstart.doc.html
for "Getting started with RMI"
In terms of the security question -- if one of the backgammon players
downloads the Java applet into his/her computer, from your server,
then the applet can accept a connection on an unpriviledged port from
the same server that it came from.
I don't know about the SOCKS layer - however, I doubt that there is
any one simple solution to all firewall snafus related to downloadable
executable content. This is actually a fairly complicated question
(or at least a question that brings a lot of people running across the
field with answers!) There is a company called Aventail that has a
lot of specific support for SOCKS support behind firewalls.
(www.aventail.com) I think what needs to happen is for the firewalls
to be configured to allow certain types of SOCKS connections. I'm not
sure this is a problem we can solve from the JDK layer.
If you're doing this as a business, you might be interested in some of
the server "push" technologies, such as what Marimba is implementing
(www.marimba.com.)
My mentioning of other companies is in no way intended to be an
endorsement -- just thought that since it's hard to find info on the
net, I'd pass on the URLs, but don't take it as any more than that!
Thanks.
Marianne