Alternative to MIOS fwd servers

Community Playground General Discussions
1

Has anyone considered writing a plug-in that replaced the functionality of the MIOS fwd servers?

It seems relatively simple to write a plug-in that polls or creates a socket connection to an external server of your choosing. The external server forwards the requests to the appropriate devices to execute request locally and returns the result. Google App Engine can host the app for free and it’s really easy to setup. With enough trust, a public option could be hosted for free or next to nothing as well.

The fwd servers aren’t doing anything special and there is no excuse for the lack of reliability.

2

No replies. Maybe most people are like me ??? and haven’t a clue as to what you are talking about. But I would like to learn more about it. Back up server maybe?.

3

The general idea is to replicate the functionality of the mios fwd using a LUA plug-in that communicates with a server of your choosing. The plug-in creates a persistent socket connection to the external server or polls the external server to get around your firewall and NAT. The plug-in listens for requests from the server. When one is available, it runs it locally, and returns the result. A socket connection is ideal but it’s tough to do that on GAE (Google App Engine). Long polling can accomplish nearly the same functionality.

Here’s the overview of a GAE implementation:

  1. You make a request to “your_app.appspot.com” instead of “fwd1.mios.com”
  2. The GAE app replies to the next GET from the LUA polling plugin with the parameters of your request
  3. The LUA plugin executes the request locally
  4. The result is returned to GAE app using a POST
  5. The GAE app responds to your request with the contents of the post
    Assuming this all can happen in less than 30 seconds, it should be a drop in replacement mios’s servers
4

I just SSH to my vera if I need to bypass MiOS. I just wish we had better support for alternative communication mechanisms in third party apps like iVera.

5

What kind of alternatives are you looking for? I am designing a Vera app for the android honeycomb plateform. It has local and remote access and you can also ssh using connectbot and just port forward the vera ports. I try not to use the Mios servers and ssh into my home server and port forward if I ever need access remotely. This goes for my phone as well.

  • Garrett
6

@ djrobx
SSH works if you have a fairly static IP and your Vera2 is connected directly to the WAN (you could use port forwarding on you router as well). SSH isn’t going to get iVera working though.

@ All
I’m proposing a drop in replacement for MIOS’s fwd servers.

I only use a select few calls for my app:

  • data_request?id=user_data
  • data_request?id=lu_action

What do other people rely on?

7

I have port forwarding to Vera pre-configured on my router- If I find Mios is down, I log into my router check the “enable” box next to the forwarding setup for Vera and use that connection.
Once Mios is back up, I log back into the router and uncheck the “enable” box next to the forwarding setup for Vera. Takes about 20 seconds to get the forwarding going.

It’s simple, but it works.
FWIW- I do have dynamic WAN IP, but it never changes unless I clone a new mac address to my router then reboot it and my cable modem.

8

The use of say a service like dyndns will help with the dynamic ip address issue. I use them for my domains. They do offer a free service and most routers now a days have the option to use dyndns and update the information when the router receives a new ip. The options offered here are all good ones. I am huge on security (IT professional) and would be leery in having remote access enabled on my router. That is why I have a computer with ssh access behind the router and use port forwarding when needed.

  • Garrett
9

Agreed Garrett!

And if your router doesnt support dyndns, i think even Vera does under the hood!
If neded i ca llokup the settings for that.

Besides, nowadays even some IP cameras provide dyndns support.

Besides that, setting up a VPN through your router is also an option if youre reote most of the time!

  • Henk

[quote=“garrettwp, post:8, topic:168896”]The use of say a service like dyndns will help with the dynamic ip address issue. I use them for my domains. They do offer a free service and most routers now a days have the option to use dyndns and update the information when the router receives a new ip. The options offered here are all good ones. I am huge on security (IT professional) and would be leery in having remote access enabled on my router. That is why I have a computer with ssh access behind the router and use port forwarding when needed.

  • Garrett[/quote]