[Sgdc] PHP

[Dylan Hutchison]

Hi there Tyler, Christopher and Michael,

Thanks a lot for responding so quickly!  I've coded only perhaps 30 lines
of PHP i my life, so your advice will be great to determine how feasible
this is.  I attached a picture with the traditional PHP setup on top and my
idea on the bottom.

In the standard PHP web server paradigm, the browser makes a connection,
the PHP server runs the PHP script of the site which generates HTML output,
and the web server sends the HTML response to the client browser.  The
interaction is one-shot; there's no opportunity for continued data transfer
/ intreraction (whether started by the browser to the server or started by
the server to the browser) in the same php session.  The browser could,
say, reload the page, but that would run the php script again in an
independent session.  *Key goal*: continuous, asynchronous two-way data
transfer between the browser and server in the same run of the php script.

Idea 1: if it's possible to use some kind of server-side static variables
in the sens that I can store data and use/access it between php sessions,
this would help a great deal.
Idea 2: AJAX exists for the browser to send data to the server and get a
response back asynchronously without reloading the page.  Likewise, HTML 5
Server-Side events exist for the server to send data to the browser
asynchronously (assuming browser support).  Can I leverage these two
technologies here with php?

Use case: did you know that any student can host files on their linux lab
account accessible to the outside world?  You just need to create a
public_html folder in your home directory and put in HTML or PHP files in
there.  Check this out: http://www.cs.stevens.edu/~dhutchis/tb.php
So my idea is to allow any student to host their own server of any type
(imagine Vent, Minecraft, regular file server, streaming video, you name
it) by using the PHP hosting capability of the CS web server as a proxy.

   1. Desktop server on campus (call it DS) connects to /blah.php (call it
   WS=webserver), and authenticates.  The PHP server stores the IP address and
   port of the DS that the DS has open for incoming connections.
   2. Client computer (call it CC) sends a browser HTML request to WS.
    (The WS prompts for authentication.  CC provides it.)
   3. The WS opens a TCP/IP socket connection to the original DS (whose
   connection information it retained) and forwards data from the CC to the
   DS.  Similarly, it forwards data from the DS sent back to the WS to the CC
   (assume the WS can distinguish what data is intended for what CC).  Thus,
   the WS becomes a proxy.

Step 3 needs to be accomplished using forks, execs, more socket connection
opening, cookies, local storage, ... whatever technology/technique it takes
so that it can maintain that open socket connection to the DS for the
duration that the CC wants to talk.

Alternative 1: Use UDP instead of TCP.  Then it might be ok to close a
socket connection and open another one; not sure. I'd like to avoid this if
possible.
Alternative 2: Have the WS open 2 sockets; 1 to the DS and another to the
CC, providing the CC provides information about a port it has open and
listening for incoming connections.  This may work well if the WS can fork
up a new process which handles the 2 sockets and doesn't end/die until the
CC and DS are done indirectly talking.  This may make the proposal much
easier, but it's still be nice to avoid because it requires the CC have an
open port.  We should ideally use the connection the CC makes when it sends
a browser request to the WS.

So let me know what you think, whether this sounds stupid or not.  I know
you guys have your own things to do, but if we can determine that such a
setup is possible, I will learn the PHP to do it (hopefully starting at
resources you'll point me toward).  Thanks a bunch and I'm looking forward
to seeing what you think.

Regards,
Dylan Hutchison


On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 9:34 AM, Tyler Romeo <tylerromeo at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey,
>
> Feel free to shoot me an email. PHP is one of my primary development
> languages.
>
> *--*
> *Tyler Romeo*
> Stevens Institute of Technology, Class of 2015
> Major in Computer Science
> www.whizkidztech.com | tylerromeo at gmail.com
>
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 7:21 AM, Dylan Hutchison <dhutchis at stevens.edu>wrote:
>
>> Hey folks,
>>
>> Are any of you PHP gurus out there, or do you happen to know someone with
>> a wide knowledge of PHP?  I have an idea for hosting a server in the
>> Stevens network accessible from outside the network involving PHP; I would
>> love to bounce it off you and see if it's plausible.  If it works, it could
>> be really useful for the Stevens campus.  Shoot me an email if you know
>> some PHP or are interested.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Dylan Hutchison
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SGDC mailing list
>> SGDC at lists.stevens.edu
>> https://lists.stevens.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sgdc
>>
>>
>
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