Messenger-esque windows service: How do major messengers do it?

[Alex]

I am fairly new to C# development. I have read a number of articles
about developing messenger applications, but they all assume that it
is operating internally and that the IP address of the client is
known. I would like to develop a messenger-esque service that will
communicate live database information to a central, remote server.

The process would be something like this:
1) A user at the remote site requests information from the messenger-
esque client
2) The remote server contacts the client
3) Client sends information
4) Remote interprets

I know this sounds like a web service would accomplish this, and it
would. However, my target users will not know how to (or care to)
install IIS and configure it appropriately to host a web service. How
do messenger services handle this? Is the client constantly
communicating with the remote server to check for requests? Any advice
on how to get started with this?

Thanks!

 

[KWienhold]

I am fairly new to C# development. I have read a number of articles
about developing messenger applications, but they all assume that it
is operating internally and that the IP address of the client is
known. I would like to develop a messenger-esque service that will
communicate live database information to a central, remote server.

The process would be something like this:
1) A user at the remote site requests information from the messenger-
esque client
2) The remote server contacts the client
3) Client sends information
4) Remote interprets

I know this sounds like a web service would accomplish this, and it
would. However, my target users will not know how to (or care to)
install IIS and configure it appropriately to host a web service. How
do messenger services handle this? Is the client constantly
communicating with the remote server to check for requests? Any advice
on how to get started with this?

Thanks!

I have never developed a messenger application like this, so I can't
say for sure, but my best guess would be that each client tells the
central server its IP adress when it comes online and the server
informs the clients of the IPs of the users on their list, then the
client could send a direct message to each of the online users on its
list that it has just come online.
Any further communication could then be done directly between the
clients without the need to query the central server.

hth, Kevin Wienhold

 

[Alex]

I have never developed a messenger application like this, so I can't
say for sure, but my best guess would be that each client tells the
central server its IP adress when it comes online and the server
informs the clients of the IPs of the users on their list, then the
client could send a direct message to each of the online users on its
list that it has just come online.
Any further communication could then be done directly between the
clients without the need to query the central server.

hth, Kevin Wienhold

What about IP addresses that are assigned through a firewall? For
example, I have three computers on my home network. Each web page that
I hit records the same IP Address for all three computers when they
are actually three different computers. Is there a way to determine a
unique address for a computer?