[JDEV] jabber users limit !!

[Thomas Charron]

From: "Charles Forsythe" <forsythe at netvoice.net>
To: <jdev at jabber.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 10:58 AM
Subject: Re: [JDEV] jabber users limit !!
> dlb wrote:
> > someone is developing an IP multiplexer to address this area.
> In 30 words or less, what is an IP multiplexer (in this context)?

    To put it simply, it's a way to have many connections occur over the
same socket.

  Jabber Server ----- Multiplexor -- Thousands of Connections
       \
        \--------------- Multiplexor -- Thousands of Connections
         \
          \-------------- Multiplexor -- Thousands of Connections
           \
            \------------- Multiplexor -- Thousands of Connections

    In this diagram, lets say these are *STOCK* Linux kernels, who can only
handle 1024 sockets.  In this case, each of the multiplexors can handle 1024
connections, so the agregate of all of them is 4096 Connections.  Thse 4096
connections only take up *4* sockets to the Jabber server.  It's a way to
throw machines in between to handle the load of simply managing thousands of
connections, which takes up a fair amount of memory and processing time
itself, without even taking into consideration the processing of the raw
DATA being processed.  Now, hypothetically, if the multiplexors where
modified to support, say, 40k connections, with 5 boxes you can now support
160k connections.

    Not only that, but this gives you the ability to throw, say, a very
large Sun box as the 'processor', and many lower end intel boxes as the
multiplexor.  The cheap machines handle the grunt work of the connections,
and the big machine handles the actual XML messaging, etc..