multiple threads writting to a same socket problem

Question

Hi:

My program uses sockets for inter-process communication. There is one server listening on a socket port(B) on localhost waiting for a list of TCP clients to connect. And on the other end of the server is another a socket(A) that sends out data to internet. The server is designed to take everything the TCP clients send him and forward to a server on the internet. My question is if two of the TCP clients happened to send data at the same time, is this going to be a problem for the server's outgoing socket(A)?

Thanks

Answer 1

The MSDN docs recommend that you use BeginSend and EndSend if multiple threads will be using the same socket to transmit data.

So I would suggest that you either use those methods or write outgoing data to a synchronized queue, from which a single thread will then pick data off of the queue and send it over socket(A)

Answer 2

You don't describe how you multiplex the traffic of multiple client streams onto a single outgoing stream. Just arbitrarily putting chunks of client traffic into the stream is guaranteed not the work. The receiving end on the opposite end of the intertube will have no idea what bytes belong to what conversation.

I'd recommend you focus on the opposite end first. What machine is out there, what does it do, what does it need to know about the multiple clients at the local end.