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Flash Communication Server Article

Brian Lesser

Brian Lesser

Ryerson University

Tunneling Macromedia Flash Communications Through Firewalls and Proxy Servers

When the first version of Macromedia Flash Communication Server MX was released, some developers discovered that they could not show corporate clients communication applications they had developed because their clients were behind firewalls and proxy servers. In some cases, developers found they could work around the connection problem by making small changes in their application and/or reconfiguring the communication server. But in some cases, nothing worked.

Macromedia responded by adding HTTP tunneling as a new feature in Macromedia Flash Communication Server MX, version 1.5. Tunneling solves many firewall and proxy server connection problems and introduces a surprising new feature that offers a new level of security to communication applications. This article describes tunneling, why it is necessary and how to work with it. It provides enough background information on firewalls and proxy servers so that you can make informed choices when writing communication applications and configuring the server. However, there are a lot of options for configuring and securing Macromedia Flash Communication Server MX. This article cannot possibly cover them all. Macromedia provides a number of useful resources you should also consult:

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About the author

Brian Lesser works at Ryerson University in Computing and Communications Services, where he has the ungainly title of Assistant Director, Teaching and Technology Support. Brian also teaches in Ryerson's School of Image Arts and is a contributor to the Macromedia Flash MX ActionScript Bible (Hungry Minds, Inc., June 2002).

 

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