Network Programming With Boost

Network Programming with Boost

Jeff Garland
[email protected]

2007-May-16 Copyright© 2007 CrystalClear Software 1

Tutorial Goals
Describe the basics of writing networked programs
Writing network enabled programs including:
understanding of some of the issues in network
programming
an understanding of 'asynchronous programming'
basics of TCP based sockets
integration of sockets and i/o streams
understanding of using timers in network programming
Using serialization with asio to build a general
object messaging frameworks
Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software
2008-May-09 Network Programming with Boost 2
Topics Covered
Network programming
Terminology and theory
Tools
Boost Libraries
asio
serialization
bind
regex
smart_ptr
date-time
Session Agenda
Introduction
Boost.asio Overview
Basic Synchronous Client Program
Boost.asio in depth
Asynchronous Server Program
Boost.serialization – short overview
Pitfalls of Network Programming
Network Programming Tools
Resources and Conclusion
What’s the need?
Many modern applications are now distributed
applications
Networking Advancements
Ubiquitous networks - opens possibility of making more
apps networked
‘Fast’ networks
Gigabit ethernet
Wireless N
Protocol Development
Continued advancements in ‘application protocols’
(example RSS)

2008-May-09 Network Programming with Boost
Basic Client Server
Communication
protocol
port
80
«process» {http/tcp/ip} «process»
: Web Browser : Web Server
{transient} {persistent}
operating
system process Communication
path

Networking Terminology
Client – Process that accesses a remote
service.
Server – Process that provides a service for
remote computers.
Runtime Component - a construct that
groups runtime entities and
provides/consumes a set of interfaces.
Process - an instance of an operating system
process

Types of Network
Communication - Example
Web page to display current price of stock
Client – server type
Exchange feeds
Messaging 400 customer info
<<RDB>>
<<component>>
<<external component>> <<component>> {CORBA/tcp/ip} Customer Info Customer
Web Browser {soap/http/tcp/ip} Web Adapter
Server Data
{0..10000} { quantity = 1..50}
{1..50}
300 trade data request

{CORBA/tcp/ip}
<<external component>>
<<component>> 100 -trade ticker Exchange Feed System
Stock Server {Message Channel/udp}
<<component>>
100 - trade ticker
Stock Trade
{Message Channel/udp}
History
<<RDB>>
Trade
History

Types of Network
Communications
Service
Client/Server
RPC
Client connects to server, makes a request,
optionally receives response
Suitable for larger data transfers
Point to Point
Messaging
Publish subscribe, ‘Multi-cast’

Networking Concepts
Connectionless Protocol
UDP/IP
UDP – User Datagram Protocol
IP – Internet Protocol
Connection-oriented Protocol
TCP/IP
TCP - Transmission Control Protocol
SCTP/IP
SCTP – Stream Control Transmission Protocol

IP – Internet Protocol
Base addressing scheme
Used for almost all communications now
IPv4
Typical address: 192.168.1.100
32 bits
IPv6
Typical address:
3ffe:0501:0008:0000:0260:97ff:fe40:efab
128 bits
Special addresses
Loopback 127.0.0.1 – localhost
192.xxx.xxx.xxx

Session Agenda
Introduction
Boost.asio Overview
Boost.asio in depth
asio 101 – What is asio?
Boost cross-platform system OS access library
Networking is just one aspect
Timers
May eventually support file access and others
What does asio mean?
Asychronous Input-Output…nope
Actually - play on words Australian Security
Intelligence Organisation
Pronounced - ay-zee-oh
Library written by Christopher M. Kohlhoff
asio 101 – history / info
Started outside of Boost
Was quite successful as a standalone project
Reviewed and accepted into Boost Dec/Jan
2005
In Boost 1.35 – just released

asio 101 – Design Goals
Efficient - Allow for minimal data copying
Scalable – Up to thousands of concurrent
connections
Integrate well with standard library
streambuf integration
Foundation for TR2 Networking Proposal
http://www.open-
std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2006/n2054.pdf
Easy to learn
Network concepts based on Berkley sockets
2008-May-09
Portable Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software
Network Programming with Boost 15
asio 101 - Platforms
Win32 with VC++ 7.1 and 8.x
Win32 with Borland C++ builder
Win32 with MinGW or Cygwin / g++
Linux with g++ 3.3 or later
Solaris with g++3.3 or later
Mac OS X 10.4 using g++ 3.3 or later
FreeBSD with g++3.3 or later
QNX Neutrino 6.3 with g++ 3.3. or later

asio 101 – lib dependencies
Other boost library dependencies
‘system’ used for integrated error handling
date_time used for time specifications
Technically optional

asio 101 - header Only?
Review version of asio was header-only
Newer versions depend on boost.system
Compiled library
List discussion of merits

Session Agenda
Introduction
Boost.asio Overview
Boost.asio in depth
Fetch a web page
Service Address
209.131.36.158:80
Client Computer Server Computer
«process» {http/tcp/ip} «process»

: Web Browser : Web Server

Example: fetch a web page
Simple form of ‘wget’
Steps:
Step 1: Includes and setup stuff
Step 2: Get the address of the server
Step 3: Make a connection to server
Step 4: Write http request to server
Step 5: Read resulting data
5a – read the header return
5b – process the data

Functions needed in Networked
Apps
Find address of service
If connection oriented:
Connect to service, or wait for connections
Reconnect on failures
Deal with Data
Format request or response data to transmit on wire
Protocol support
Buffering
Handle Failures
Multiplexing and Timing
Setup connection and other options

Fetch Web Page 1: Setup
#include <boost/asio.hpp>
#include <boost/regex.hpp> //not needed in latest
#include <boost/system/system_error.hpp> //latest
only
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
using namespace boost::asio;
using namespace boost::asio::ip;
using std::cout;
using std::endl;
using std::string;

Fetch Web Page 1:Setup - Main
int main (int argc, char* argv[]) {
try
{
boost::asio::io_service io_service;
//To Be expanded
}
catch (std::exception& e)
{
std::cout << "Exception: " << e.what() << std::endl;
}
return 0;
}

Fetch Web Page 2: Get Address
//eg: www.boost.org
string host_name = "localhost";
tcp::resolver resolver(io_service);
tcp::resolver::query query(host_name, "http");
tcp::resolver::iterator endpoint_iterator = resolver.resolve(query);
tcp::resolver::iterator end;
// To be expanded
while (endpoint_iterator != end)

Fetch Web Page 3: Connect
Socket
tcp::socket socket(io_service);
//connect error is exception type!

//boost::asio::error connect_error = boost::asio::error::host_not_found;
boost::system::error_code connect_error = boost::asio::error::host_not_found;
while (connect_error && endpoint_iterator != end)
{
socket.close();
socket.connect(*endpoint_iterator++, connect_error);
}
if (connect_error)
throw connect_error;
//To Be expanded

Fetch Web Page 4: Write Fetch
Request
string page_path = "/index.html";
boost::asio::streambuf request;
std::ostream request_stream(&request);
//http protocol stuff…
request_stream << "GET " << page_path << " HTTP/1.0\r\n";
request_stream << "Host: " << host_name << "\r\n";
request_stream << "Accept: */*\r\n";
request_stream << "Connection: close\r\n\r\n";
// Send the request.

boost::asio::write(socket, request);
//To Be expanded

Fetch Web Page 5: Receive
Data – Check Header
Read the response status line.
boost::asio::streambuf response;
boost::asio::read_until(socket, response, "\r\n");
//boost::asio::read_until(socket, response, boost::regex("\r\n")); //v 0.3.7
// Check that response is OK.

std::istream response_stream(&response);
std::string http_version;
response_stream >> http_version;
unsigned int status_code;
response_stream >> status_code;
std::string status_message;
std::getline(response_stream, status_message);

Data – Check Header
//….continued…
if (!response_stream || http_version.substr(0, 5) != "HTTP/")
{
std::cout << "Invalid response\n";
return 1;
}
if (status_code != 200)
{
std::cout << "Response returned with status code " << status_code << "\n";
return 1;
}
//To Be expanded

Data
// Read the response headers, which are terminated by a blank line.
//boost::asio::read_until(socket, response, boost::regex("\r\n\r\n")); //v 0.3.7
boost::asio::read_until(socket, response, "\r\n\r\n");
// Process the response headers.

string header;
cout << "**** Header ******" << endl;
while (std::getline(response_stream, header) && header != "\r")
{
cout << header << "\n";
}
cout << "\n";

Fetch web Page 6: Receive
Data
cout << "**** Part 1 ******" << endl;
// Write whatever content we already have to output.
if (response.size() > 0)
cout << &response;
cout << "**** Rest ******" << endl;

boost::system::error read_error;
// Read until EOF, writing data to output as we go.
while (boost::asio::read(socket,
response,
boost::asio::transfer_at_least(1),
read_error)) {
// boost::asio::assign_error(read_error))) {
cout << &response;
}
if (read_error != boost::asio::error::eof)
throw read_error;

Session Agenda
Introduction
Boost.asio Overview
Boost.asio in depth
asio in depth - namespace
structure
Base Namespace: boost::asio
Core concept templates
basic_socket, basic_deadline_timer, etc
Contains io_service, buffer, others
Various free functions (read/write)
boost::asio::ip - concrete ip related implementations
Defines core protocol level classes
tcp – for tcp related capabilities
acceptor, endpoint, iostream, resolver, socket
udp – for udp related capabilities
endpoint, socket, resolver
Sub namespace for multicast and unicast options
Some concept templates as well -- basic_endpoint (moved since v0.3.7)
boost::asio::ssl – Secure sockets
context, context_base, stream_base (etc)
boost::asio::placeholders – bind placeholders
error, bytes_transferred, iterator

asio in depth – sync read
Synchronous read functions
Attempt to read a certain amount of data from a
stream before returning.
Many variants:
read
read_until
template<typename Sync_Read_Stream,
typename Mutable_Buffers>
std::size_t boost::asio::read (Sync_Read_Stream &s,
const Mutable_Buffers &buffers)

asio in depth – sync write
Write all of the supplied data to a stream

before returning.
Several variants with different buffer types
template<typename Sync_Write_Stream,
typename Const_Buffers>
std::size_t boost::asio::write (Sync_Write_Stream &s,
const Const_Buffers &buffers)

Asio : ip address
Class that represents a v4 or v6 ip address
Example: classic v4 address:
192.168.100.1
Couple variants if you know the ip version
address_v4
address_v6

Key ip_address functions
Method Parameters Return Description
address Default constructor.
to_string std::string Convert to string.
from_string const char* address Construct address
from a string.
operator== Address bool Less than
operator!= comparable
functions
operator<
Several other variants of from_string

To_v4 and to_v6 if you need specific address
type Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software
Other functions: Get our
Hostname
#include <boost/asio.hpp>
#include <iostream>
using namespace boost::asio;
int main()
{
try
{
std::string host_name = ip::host_name();
std::cout << "hostname: " << host_name << std::endl;
}
catch (std::exception&)
{}
return 0;
} Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software
asio concepts: Endpoint
Combines protocol and address of a service
Use by asio in variety of functions:
Server - listening for clients
Client - connecting to a server

Key endpoint functions
Method Description
Constructor basic_endpoint(const Protocol
&protocol, unsigned short port_num)
Constructor for basic_endpoint(const

connect
boost::asio::ip::address &addr,
unsigned short port_num)

asio concepts: Resolver
Resolver
Provides the ability to retrieve an endpoint(s)
from name
Convert yahoo.com to an ip address
Provides endpoint iterator

Key resolver functions
Method Description
Constructor basic_resolver(io_service&)
Resolve iterator resolve (const endpoint_type
&e) Resolve an endpoint to a list of
entries.
Resolve query iterator resolve( const query & q,
boost::system::error_code & ec)

asio concepts: basic_socket
Provides socket capabilities
Concrete types for tcp and udp
boost::asio::ip::tcp::socket
boost::asio::ip::udp::socket

Socket – Getting - Setting
Options
//set nodelay option
boost::asio::tcp::socket socket (io_service);
boost::asio::tcp::no_delay option(true);
socket.set_option(option);
//get no_delay setting

boost::asio::tcp::no_delay option;
socket.get_option(option);
bool is_set = option.get();

Key Socket Functions -
Method Description
async_connect Start a connect to an endpoint
connect Start a connection - synchronous
cancel Cancel all asynchronous operations associated with the
socket.
close Close the socket.
open Open the socket using the specified protocol.
native Get the underlying socket representation (non portable)

Key Socket Functions - Info
Method Description
remote_endpoint Get the other ip information from the other side of the
socket.
local_endpoint IP information from local side.

asio concepts: io_service
Provides an ‘event loop’
Callback functions are registered
Requests initiated
Callbacks de-multiplexed and dispatched to
handlers
Allows for multi threaded operations
Calling run from multiple threads creates pool
Handler registration and thread NOT associated

Event De-multiplexing
Your application
Eg: asio::basic_stream_socket boost::asio::io_service
eg: read or write

on a socket
callback
Function objects

Key io_service functions
Method Description
io_service Default constructor.
run Start event processing - blocks until all work has
finished and there are no more handlers to be
dispatched or stop is called.
Stop (was Stop the even loop. Returns immediately, there may be
interrupt) a delay before run returns.

asio concepts: timing –
deadline_timer
Timers a frequent need in network
programming
Example: retry connection on failure
Deadline timer provides this capability
Sync and async versions

Deadline timer sync
using boost::posix_time::seconds;
using boost::posix_time::milliseconds;
// Construct a timer without setting an expiration time.
boost::asio::deadline_timer timer(io_service);
// Set an expiration time relative to now.

timer.expires_from_now(seconds(5));
// timer.expires_from_now(milliseconds(50));
// Wait for the timer to expire.
timer.wait();

Deadline Timer - async
void handler(const boost::asio::error& error) {
if (!error)
{
// The current time is:
boost::posix_time::ptime now(microsec_clock::local_time());
std::cout << “Timeout callback: “ << now << std::endl;
// Timer expired.
}
}
// Construct a timer with an absolute expiration time.
boost::asio::deadline_timer timer(io_service,
boost::posix_time::time_from_string("2005-12-07 23:59:59.000"));
// boost::asio::deadline_timer timer(io_service, seconds(3)); //alternative for relative time
// Start an asynchronous wait.
timer.async_wait(handler);

Session Agenda
Introduction
Boost.asio Overview
Boost.asio in depth
Building Chat Server
Tasks include
Listen for a client to connect
‘accept’ connection requests
Handle data from connections
When received send messages back to all clients
Use async functions
Use Chat program

Acceptor pattern
Separates ‘listening behavior’ from client
behavior
New ‘ServiceHandler’for each client
Acceptor class is ‘factory’ for service handler
May also handle any application specific
setup protocol

Chat Example – Network View
Client Computer1 Server Computer
«process» {chat/tcp/ip} «process»

: Chat Client : Chat Server
Client Computer2
«process»
: Chat Client {chat/tcp/ip}
{transient}
.
.
. {chat/tcp/ip}
Client Computer3
«process»
: Chat Client
{transient}

Chat Classes Overview
one per connected

chat server chat room client
0..* 0..* chat_participant
handle_accept(...) join
leave deliver(chat_msg)
deliver
chat_session
deliver(chat_msg)

Chat Classes Detail
one per connected

chat room client
chat server
0..* 0..* chat_participant
join
handle_accept(...) leave deliver(chat_msg)
deliver
chat_session
asio::tcp::acceptor asio::tcp::io_service deliver(chat_msg)
asio::tcp::socket

Listening for Client Connection
chat_server chat_session acceptor

create
async_accept(socket, callback_function, chat_session_ptr...)

Listening for Client Connection
class chat_server
{
public:
chat_server(boost::asio::io_service& io_service,
const tcp::endpoint& endpoint)
: io_service_(io_service),
acceptor_(io_service, endpoint)
{
chat_session_ptr new_session(new chat_session(io_service_, room_));
acceptor_.async_accept(new_session->socket(),
boost::bind(&chat_server::handle_accept, this, new_session,
boost::asio::placeholders::error));
}

Session Setup Sequence
io_service chat server chat_session chat_session2 acceptor

handle_accept
copy
create
start
async_accept(socket, callback_function, chat_session2_ptr...)

Session Setup Code
class chat_server
{
void handle_accept(chat_session_ptr session,

const boost::system::error_code& error)
{
if (!error)
{
session->start();
chat_session_ptr new_session(new chat_session(io_service_, room_));
acceptor_.async_accept(new_session->socket(),
boost::bind(&chat_server::handle_accept, this, new_session,
}
}
Chat - Current State
Single established socket connection
Client Computer1 Server Computer
«process» {chat/tcp/ip} «process»

: Chat Client : Chat Server

Chat Session Start
Wait for inbound socket data
Setup async read for header

Chat – Handling Inbound
Message – header
void handle_read_header(const boost::system::error_code& error)
{
if (!error && read_msg_.decode_header())
{
boost::asio::async_read(socket_,
boost::asio::buffer(read_msg_.body(), read_msg_.body_length()),
boost::bind(&chat_session::handle_read_body, shared_from_this(),
}
else
{
room_.leave(shared_from_this());
}
}

Chat – Handling Inbound
Message - Body
void handle_read_body(const boost::system::error_code& error)
{
if (!error)
{
room_.deliver(read_msg_);
boost::asio::async_read(socket_,
boost::asio::buffer(read_msg_.data(), chat_message::header_length),
boost::bind(&chat_session::handle_read_header, shared_from_this(),
}
else
{
}
}
Chat – sending outbound
class chat_room {
//…
void deliver(const chat_message& msg)
{
//…
std::for_each(participants_.begin(), participants_.end(),
boost::bind(&chat_participant::deliver, _1, boost::ref(msg)));
}

Chat – sending outbound
void deliver(const chat_message& msg)

{
bool write_in_progress = !write_msgs_.empty();
write_msgs_.push_back(msg);
if (!write_in_progress)
{
boost::asio::async_write(socket_,
boost::asio::buffer(write_msgs_.front().data(),
write_msgs_.front().length()),
boost::bind(&chat_session::handle_write, shared_from_this(),
}
}
Chat – Sending Outbound
void handle_write(const boost::system::error_code& error)
{
if (!error)
{
write_msgs_.pop_front();
if (!write_msgs_.empty())
{
boost::asio::async_write(socket_,
boost::asio::buffer(write_msgs_.front().data(),
write_msgs_.front().length()),
boost::bind(&chat_session::handle_write, shared_from_this(),
}
}
else
{
}
}
Chat Server – Main Program
//main…
try
{
//…snip…
chat_server_list servers;
for (int i = 1; i < argc; ++i)
{
using namespace std; // For atoi.
tcp::endpoint endpoint(tcp::v4(), atoi(argv[i]));
chat_server_ptr server(new chat_server(io_service, endpoint));
servers.push_back(server);
}
io_service.run();
}
//catch, exit, etc
Notes on Chat Concurrency
Single threaded
Will support many active clients
Callback functions are ‘quick’
Excellent example of how to build many
basic servers

Other ways to implement Chat
Wouldn’t need to use point to point
communication
Could use UDP multi-cast
Might not need a ‘server’ at all – peer to peer

Session Agenda
Introduction
Boost.asio Overview
Boost.asio in depth
Task: Send arbitrary Graph of
Objects Between Processes
Ultimately this is the task required in many
network programs
Implications
User defined types must be supported
Collections support
Must work with various platforms/compilers

Serialization Design
Serialization is Design pattern from long ago
Separation of Concerns:
Object layout from format of ‘stream’
Useful for network programs where data
layout is a problem

Messaging Architecture with
Serialization
port
«process» 1000
{custom/tcp/ip} «process»
: Client : Server
«subsystem»
Message
Protocol
«subsystem»
Client
Message 1 Message 3
Message 2
«subsystem»
Server

serialization 101 – What is
Boost.Serialization?
Provides the ability to take data structures
and make into a sequence of bytes
Users can provide functions to serialize their
own data types
Automatically handles STL collections
Many Boost libraries support
Date-time, multi-index, shared_ptr, etc
Author: Robert Ramey

serialization 101 – history
Initial version submitted in Feb 2002
Initial review Nov 2002 – rejected
Second review April 2004 – accepted
Included in 1.32 release
Details:
http://www.boost.org/libs/serialization/doc/in
dex.html

serialization 101 – design goals
Non-intrusive serialization
Support for different archive formats (xml,
binary)
Archives can be extended by users
Support for different stream types
Versioning of classes

serialization 101 – platforms
Summary – modern compilers prefered
VC6 (limits), VC7.1, VC8
Intel 8+
Borland (some limits)
g++ 3.x + (full support – wchar issues on
mingw)
Sun 5.8
HP-UX acc6 v2

serialization 101 – Built
Library
Serialization is built into libraries
To utilize will need to link appropriate libs

Serializaton 101 - Archive Concept:
Renders the data into an iostream
Several different formats
Text based: ‘text’, ‘xml’
Binary: ‘binary’
Archives can be ‘loading’ or ‘saving’
Archive class naming:
‘format’_’chartype’’direction’archive
Where ‘chartype == blank (narrow) || ‘w’ wide
Where ‘direction’ == ‘i’ in || ‘o’ out
Xml, wide char, output ==
boost::archive::xml_woarchive

serialization 101 – save a value
#include <boost/archive/text_oarchive.hpp>
#include <boost/date_time/gregorian/greg_serialize.hpp>
const date d(2007, May, 14);

std::ostringstream archive_stream;
boost::archive::text_oarchive archive(archive_stream);
archive << d; //2007-May-14 now in archive_stream buffer

serialization 101 – serialization
for custom types
#include <boost/date_time/gregorian/greg_serialize.hpp>
#include <boost/serialization/vector.hpp>
#include <boost/serialization/string.hpp>
class MyMessageType {
vector<int> vi;
date d;
string s;
friend class boost::serialization::access;
template<class Archive>
serialize(Archive& ar, const unsigned int version) const
{
ar & s;
ar & vi;
ar & d; //d has custom serialization method
}
public:
//constructors and useful functions
};
for custom types
serialize(Archive& ar, MyMessageType m &
const unsigned int version) const
{
ar & m.get_vi();
ar & m.get_d();
ar & m.get_s();
}

for custom types - xml
serialize(Archive& ar, MyMessageType m &
const unsigned int version) const
{
ar & m.get_vi();
ar & m.get_d();
ar & m.get_s();
}

Boost Serialization for
Networked Programs
Boost.serialization doesn’t have a ‘cross-
platform’ binary archive
Need to stick to text-based archives such as
xml or text archives
Serialization could be extend to support true
binary formats
CDR (from CORBA)
XDR (an IETF binary data standard)
http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1014.html
YAML SOC project

Tradeoffs
Advantages of Serialization Approach
Separates rendering from data types
Handles complex cases including pointers
Ensures client/server ‘automatically’ in sync
Disadvantages
Not as fast as custom code

Inbound Message Handling
Design
• Problem:
Stock Trade Stock Quote
Connection supports string symbol string symbol
multiple types of double price

time sale_time
double ask_price
double bid_price
long quantity
messages – how do
you serialize and
call the write
handler?

Inbound Message Design
Simple – add a message id to header then serialize correct
type:
if (type == trade) {
StockTrade st;
ar >> st;
handle_trade(st);
else if (type == quote) {
StockQuote sq;
ar >> sq;
handle_quote(sq);
}

Inbound Message Design
• Use polymorphism
• Serialization code Message
Handler
never changes virtual void handle(handler) = 0

handle_quote(StockQuote&) =0
handle_trade(StockTrade&) =0
MyHandler
Message m; StockTrade
string symbol
StockQuote
string symbol handle_quote(StockQuote&)

double price double ask_price handle_trade(StockTrade&)
time sale_time double bid_price
ar >> m; long quantity
void handle(handler) void handle(handler)
m.handle(); void handle(Handler* h)

{
h->handle_quote(*this)
}

Session Agenda
Introduction
Boost.asio Overview
Boost.asio in depth
Pitfalls of Network
Programming
Assuming zero latency
But the speed of light is 186,000 mps?
Assuming a reliable network
But TCP is reliable, right?
Hard-coding addresses
But it’s only a prototype?

Pitfall 1: Latency in-depth
Simple LAN
Latency is minimal ( < 0-10 milliseconds)
Most apps tested on local setup - dangerous
WAN applications
Much larger latency – rule of thumb (< 10-100 milliseconds)
US/Europe theoretical min latency is ~ 30 milliseconds
WAN over Satellite
Geostationary orbit - 22,300 miles (roundtrip 44, 600)
One hop == ~ .25 second delay – 250 milliseconds!
One round trip TCP sequence (send/ack) ~0.5 second delay
If one interaction requires 10 TCP request/responses that’s 5
seconds!

Latency Measurements – LAN
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 38.058/41.519/51.352/4.112 ms

jeff@jeffdev2:~$ ping 192.168.1.100
PING 192.168.1.100 (192.168.1.100) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.1.100: icmp_seq=1 ttl=128 time=1.37 ms

Latency Measurements –
Internet – ‘close’
jeff@jeffdev2:~$ ping -c 10 www.yahoo.com
PING www.yahoo-ht3.akadns.net (209.131.36.158) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from f1.www.vip.sp1.yahoo.com (209.131.36.158): icmp_seq=1 ttl=52 time=40.4 ms
--- www.yahoo-ht3.akadns.net ping statistics ---

10 packets transmitted, 10 received, 0% packet loss, time 9055ms

Internet – Arizona to Austrialia
jeff@jeffdev2:~$ ping -c 10 au.yahoo.com
PING p1.www.vip.aue.yahoo.com (203.84.217.32) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from p1.www.vip.aue.yahoo.com (203.84.217.32): icmp_seq=1 ttl=236 time=260 ms
--- p1.www.vip.aue.yahoo.com ping statistics ---

Internet – Arizona to UK
jeff@jeffdev2:~$ ping -c 10 uk.yahoo.com
PING www.euro.yahoo-eu1.akadns.net (217.146.186.51) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from www.vip.ird.yahoo.com (217.146.186.51): icmp_seq=1 ttl=49 time=185 ms
--- www.euro.yahoo-eu1.akadns.net ping statistics ---

Designing for Latency
New hardware isn’t going to fix it – it’s physics
Consider using UDP (no acknowledgement)
Minimize the number of application calls in
protocol
Example –
Client needs to retrieve ‘user information’
Design 1: Remote User Object
Each user attribute (name, address) requires remote call
Design 2: Locally Cached User Object
One remote call, proxy makes remaining local

Pitfall 2: Reliability in depth
Nothing about network is really reliable
Theoretically impossible
Node crashes, router overloads, software bugs
tcp behaviors
Buffering
Window sizing (nagle algorithm) – cuts bandwidth automatically
‘Guaranteed message delivery’…not
Practically all schemes have limits
What if messages are ‘out of order’?
Design for failure – it is inevitable!

Designing for Failure
Provide ‘graceful degredation mode’ if
possible
Web browsers (cannot connect, offline mode)
Work thru error cases
Connection based
Test connects when server not available
Disconnect processes at various times
Send periodic messages – ping messages
Messaging
Application level message sequencing
Servers may require retransmit facilities

Example: OMG DCPS QoS
Specification
DCPS – Data Centric Publish Subscribe
Suitable for ‘real-time’ machines
23 different quality of service options
History (keep last, keep all) – kind of replay
Presentation – coherent data transmission
Reliability – kind of sequencing
etc

Design for Failure – Startup
Problem
Design guideline
Order of process startup is completely arbitrary
Minimal amount of logic in each process
Some functions may not be available until
connectivity is complete
Persistence often needed to all effective
startup

Startup Problem – An Example
<<RDB>>
400 customer info <<component>>
<<external component>> <<component>> {CORBA/tcp/ip} Customer Info Customer
Web Browser {soap/http/tcp/ip} Web Adapter
Server Data
{0..10000} { quantity = 1..50}
{1..50}
300 trade data request

{CORBA/tcp/ip}
<<external component>>
<<component>> 100 -trade ticker Exchange Feed System
Stock Server {Message Channel/udp}
<<component>>
100 - trade ticker
Stock Trade
{Message Channel/udp}
History
<<RDB>>
Trade
History
Facility Boundary

Session Agenda
Introduction
Boost.asio Overview
Boost.asio in depth
Tools: Traceroute Example
$ traceroute www.yahoo.com
Tracing route to www.yahoo-ht3.akadns.net [209.131.36.158]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 5 ms 9 ms 2 ms f1.www.vip.sp1.yahoo.com [209.131.36.158]
2 29 ms 14 ms 14 ms 10.118.128.1
3 24 ms 10 ms 7 ms ip68-2-6-110.ph.ph.cox.net [68.2.6.110]
4 16 ms 15 ms 13 ms 68.2.13.94
5 13 ms 17 ms 17 ms 68.2.13.9
6 12 ms 32 ms 89 ms 68.2.13.5
7 10 ms 13 ms 29 ms 68.2.13.1
8 15 ms 13 ms 27 ms chnddsrj02-ae2.0.rd.ph.cox.net [68.2.14.5]
9 32 ms 43 ms 32 ms langbbr01-ae0.r2.la.cox.net [68.1.0.232]
10 30 ms 25 ms 31 ms exchange-cust1.la1.equinix.net [206.223.123.16]
11 40 ms * 38 ms ge-1-3-4-p142.pat1.pao.yahoo.com [216.115.96.42]
12 38 ms 42 ms 40 ms g-1-0-0-p150.msr2.sp1.yahoo.com [216.115.107.77]
13 41 ms 38 ms 42 ms UNKNOWN-209-131-32-23.yahoo.com [209.131.32.23]
14 45 ms 41 ms 43 ms f1.www.vip.sp1.yahoo.com [209.131.36.158]
Trace complete. Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Tools: netstat (windows)
$ netstat --help
Displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP network connections.
NETSTAT [-a] [-b] [-e] [-n] [-o] [-p proto] [-r] [-s] [-v] [interval]
-a Displays all connections and listening ports.

-b Displays the executable involved in creating each connection or
listening port. In some cases well-known executables host
multiple independent components, and in these cases the
sequence of components involved in creating the connection
or listening port is displayed. In this case the executable
name is in [] at the bottom, on top is the component it called,
and so forth until TCP/IP was reached. Note that this option
can be time-consuming and will fail unless you have sufficient
permissions.
-e Displays Ethernet statistics. This may be combined with the -s
option.
-n Displays addresses and port numbers in numerical form.
-o Displays the owning process ID associated with each connection.
-v When used in conjunction with -b, will display sequence of
components involved inCopyright©
creating the connection
2006-2008 or listening
CrystalClear Software
2008-May-09 port for all executables.Network Programming with Boost
Tools: netstat (unix)
usage: netstat [-veenNcCF] [<Af>] -r netstat {-V|--version|-h|--help}
netstat [-vnNcaeol] [<Socket> ...]
netstat { [-veenNac] -i | [-cnNe] -M | -s }
-i, --interfaces display interface table

-g, --groups display multicast group memberships
-v, --verbose be verbose
-n, --numeric don't resolve names
--numeric-hosts don't resolve host names
--numeric-ports don't resolve port names
--numeric-users don't resolve user names
-N, --symbolic resolve hardware names
-p, --programs display PID/Program name for sockets
-l, --listening display listening server sockets
-a, --all, --listening display all sockets (default: connected)
-o, --timers display timers
<Socket>={-t|--tcp} {-u|--udp} {-w|--raw} {-x|--unix} --ax25 --ipx --netrom

Tools: netstat (windows)
$ netstat -b
Active Connections
Proto Local Address Foreign Address State PID

TCP jeff_tablet:3314 localhost:3315 ESTABLISHED 9944
[firefox.exe]

[firefox.exe]

[firefox.exe]

[firefox.exe]
TCP jeff_tablet:3450 192.168.1.102:5900 ESTABLISHED 11592

[vncviewer.exe]
TCP jeff_tablet:3487 cg-in-f167.google.com:http ESTABLISHED 9944

[firefox.exe] Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software
Ethereal/Wireshark
Cross-platform network capture tool
Captures packets at os level
Great help in protocol debugging
Great learning tool
Called ‘wireshark’ on some *nix platforms
http://www.ethereal.com/

Tools: ethereal (windows)

Tools: ping
jeff@jeffdev2:~$ ping -c 10 www.yahoo.com
PING www.yahoo-ht3.akadns.net (209.131.36.158) 56(84) bytes of data.
--- www.yahoo-ht3.akadns.net ping statistics ---


Session Agenda
Introduction
Boost.asio Overview
Boost.asio in depth
Other Libraries of Interest
Channel - Yigong Liu
Built on asio for Message Passing
http://channel.sourceforge.net/
Signal Network (2007 SoC) – Stjepan Rajko
Has ‘remote signal’ concept
http://dancinghacker.com/code/signet/index.html
Marshal/RPC - Stjepan Rajko
Factory of RPC/Marshalling part from above
http://dancinghacker.com/code/marshal/index.ht
ml
RCF (Remote Call Framework) - Jarl
Lindrud
Built on asio for C++ to C++ remote calls
http://www.codeproject.com/threads/Rcf_Ipc_Fo
r_Cpp.asp

ACE/TAO
Mature, portable C++ library includes threading,
networking, shared memory, and CORBA
implementations
ACE == Adaptive Communications
Environment
TAO == Open source Object Request Broker
http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/ACE.html

Boost.MPI – Message Passing Interface
Message Passing Interface

C++ binding to MPI framework
Requires external MPI library
MPI supports many languages
MPI is traditionally used for ‘cluster computing’
In Boost 1.35
Uses boost.serialization for user defined
types
Authors: Douglas Gregor, Matthias Troyer
Latency – Some Resources
Read Waldo et. al.
http://research.sun.com/techrep/1994/s
mli_tr-94-29.pdf
AJAX Latency
http://richui.blogspot.com/2005/09/ajax-
latency-problems-myth-or-reality.html

Network Programming
Resources
Unix Network Programming
http://www.unpbook.com
Other Stevens books
TCP Illustrated
3 volumes

Schmidt C++ Books
2 volumes
Describes details of using
ACE
Recommended if you’re
using ACE

Schmidt Patterns
Vol2 of Pattern
Oriented Software
Architectures
Application design
level networking
descriptions

Summary
Network programming is ubiquitous
New Boost libraries are making it easier than
ever
Go do it!


Network Programming With Boost

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2007-May-16 Copyright© 2007 CrystalClear Software 1

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

300 trade data request

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

«process» {http/tcp/ip} «process»

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

//connect error is exception type!

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

// Send the request.

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

// Check that response is OK.

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

// Process the response headers.

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

cout << "**** Rest ******" << endl;

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Write all of the supplied data to a stream

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Several other variants of from_string

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Constructor for basic_endpoint(const

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

//get no_delay setting

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

native Get the underlying socket representation (non portable)

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

eg: read or write

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

// Set an expiration time relative to now.

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

Copyright© 2006-2008 CrystalClear Software

cout << " Rest **" << endl;