With flash media server 3.5, I was wonder what my options would be for implementing flash inside my asp.net applications? I've seen some 3rd party asp.net flash controls and flash sells a product called something like 'flash remoting'. Are there any other options?
Thanks
You can use XML/JSON to communicate between the server and Flash, however, using AMF is probably the fastest way to go. You could also bridge the gap between Flash and the server with Javascript and ExternalInterface. You have a bunch of options, and non of them should cost you any money.
Give AMFNet a look.
If you're using ASP.NET then you're better off using a .NET product for Flash integration. Fluorine and WebOrb are two options. We've used Fluorine for years and are very happy with it.
Flash Remoting is a technology Flash/Flex can use to communicate with a back end. It uses HTTP to transmit messages and encodes individual messages in AMF, a binary protocol that is extremely efficient to encode/decode in Flash.
Another option is RTMP which was originally designed for video but is also used for data. It internally uses AMF for encoding individual data packets. RTMP utilizes a constant connection and enables two-way communications. It generally requires a separate port for communications but some products, including FMS, support HTTP tunneling which will send RTMP connections over port 80. I'm not sure if Fluorine or WebOrb support HTTP tunneling.