Data Streaming in Adobe Flash

Question

I am trying to write a flash program that allows multiple users to collaboratively work on the same document. I would require the changes and updates from each user to be sent to a server, processed, and propagated to everyone else working on the document.

What kind of server technology should I be using? It needs to be a low-latency solution to allow for good performance and a high number of concurrent users.

I'm looking at Flash Media Server and its open-source equivalent Red5. I don't need to stream anything but data, so I'm not quite sure if these two are right for me, since they seem to be mainly for videos and such. Additionally, I couldn't figure out what language I need to be writing the server-side logic. Red5 keeps mentioning Java; would that mean that I have to write a Java program that handles and interprets the data that the user sends?

Any ideas or information on this are greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Take a look at Wowza, I like it better than FMS or Red5.

Answer 2

I did some further research, and I think that XMLSockets is the way to go on this one. If you disagree, feel free to let me know.

Answer 3

If you are only passing data between your clients, then consider something like

• LiveCycle Data Services (Adobe, $$$)
• BlazeDS (Java-based, Open Source, from Adobe).
• Grantie DS (Java-based, Open Source)

This will allow you to push messages (your data) asynchronously like you want but without the heavy height of a full streaming server, like FMS, Red5 or Wowza.