[MUD-Dev] Remote client connection

[John Bertoglio]

> Caliban Tiresias Darklock Sent: Friday, June 16, 2000 3:47 PM

<some cut>
>
> I've been trying to figure out a way to kill the whole connection time
> thing, running the whole schmear via stateless connections. The server
> saves state, and the client requests updates. No logins. No disconnects.
> No idling for long periods and using resources. Just consider everybody
> logged in 24-7 and send updates when requested. My major obstacles in
> this are security and efficiency. I haven't come up with viable enough
> solutions to consider this something worth discussing in depth or
> attempting to implement just yet.
>
This is exactly how our web stuff at work operates using a product called
WebLink to connect users to our backend db. The product operates in several
stateless modes which preserve state between hits by preserving the symbol
table on disk. There are no security problems (except those inherent on a
public internet connection) and the process is very efficicient. The system
creates an internal session and generates pages using encoded tokens. Except
for gateway pages (like a login or activation page) any generated page can
be protected from access.

On my MUD design, we actually ramp down a lot of the security by moving it
out of the backend engine. Essentially, if you are not who you say you are,
the system will not let you do anything. Once validated, the system assumes
you are who you say you are until the idle period between hits is greater
than the timeout setting. Then, the systems asks for your login and
password, and you are back where you were. The current system for checking
character/user status is so fast that it usually takes less time than the NT
system clock can resolve to execute. We may add a system to sweep idle
characters out of the system so they won't be overwhelmed when the
controller is not around. This system would work very well for Tradewars
type games as well.

The only technical constraint/annoyance for a stateless system is realtime
chat/combat. At this point, we just use client pull (META refresh tags) and
this works fairly well. Since we have a more relaxed combat system than most
worlds, the lack of fast updates is not quite the issue it might otherwise
be. It also eliminates the issue of latency for all but the most extreme
cases, since there is no significant advantage in a faster connection.

John A. Bertoglio
  _____

PulsePoll.com <http://www.pulsepoll.com/>
| 503.781.3563
| jb at pulsepoll.com






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