Xref: cannon.ecf comp.protocols.tcp-ip:19624 comp.os.misc:2974 Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip,comp.os.misc Path: cannon.ecf!steve From: steve@ecf.toronto.edu (Steve Kotsopoulos) Subject: Call for beta testers - Adaptive File Distribution Protocol (AFDP) Message-ID: Keywords: group communication, multicast, publishing Sender: news@ecf.toronto.edu (News Administrator) Organization: University of Toronto, Engineering Computing Facility Date: Sat, 9 Jul 1994 00:39:22 GMT The Adaptive File Distribution Protocol (AFDP) addresses the need for efficient and reliable group communication. The protocol is built on top of UDP, and uses a rate-based flow control mechanism to provide efficient and reliable file distribution. AFDP uses the publishing metaphor: any machine receiving files is called a subscriber and any machine sending files is called a publisher. One special subscriber is designated as the secretary; this machine is responsible for managing the group membership and authorizing publishers. AFDP dynamically selects between 3 different transfer modes: unicast, multicast (on hosts that support it), and broadcast. You can call AFDP from any of your applications, or just use the existing file transfer mechanisms of AFDP. AFDP has been tested on IRIX, SunOS, Solaris, RISC/os, Ultrix, and SVR4.2. Our sources also include a library of convenience functions for writing network applications, which can be re-used in other programs. AFDP is not yet ready for public release, but we are looking for a group of beta-testers who are familiar with network programming. If you do not fit in this category, please wait for the public release of AFDP. If you would like to beta-test AFDP, please send the following to afdp@ecf.toronto.edu: - the operating systems you are running - which systems support IP multicast - tell us what you would like to use AFDP for We will contact the beta-team next week, with information on how to obtain our code. Steve Kotsopoulos Jeremy Cooperstock -- Steve Kotsopoulos P.Eng. steve@ecf.toronto.edu Systems Analyst, Engineering Computing Facility, University of Toronto