Google App Engine, Secure Data Connector (SDC), and supported protocols

Question

I've been investigating what I can do with Google's Secure Data Connector and App Engine.

Is it possible, from an App Engine application, to grab resources inside my corporate intranet without using HTTP(S)?

From what I read in the documentation, the only way to request resources through SDC is by using url_fetch, which is limited to HTTP, right?

Answer 1

You are right that app engine does not let you to other hosts or use sockets directly except through its URLFetch API which is limited to HTTP. However, you are not stuck to traditional ports - you can use it to access ports 80-90, 440-450, and 1024-65535 (as of GAE v1.3.2).

It doesn't seem like this restriction should matter much if you are planning on using SDC - the SDC FAQ seems to indicate that it uses HTTP/HTTPS to connect to resources on your intranet anyway.