WebRTC is almost here, and it will change the web

#1

Post by denismars » Mon, Aug 13, 2012, 6:06 PM UTC

WebRTC is almost here, and it will change the web
venturebeat.com

Re: WebRTC is almost here, and it will change the web

#2

Post by AndrewDucker » Mon, Aug 13, 2012, 7:03 PM UTC

At the moment, NAT means that lots of connections have to go through a central server, at least to set up the connection. With IPv6, that need should vanish (providing you aren't firewalled by your router).

The two things combined should remove a lot of middlemen.

Re: WebRTC is almost here, and it will change the web

#3

Post by barista » Mon, Aug 13, 2012, 7:04 PM UTC

>This is the most significant step forward in web browser connectivity since 2004, when Google launched Gmail and AJAX was coined

That's not quite right. Microsoft invented XMLHTTP, the interface which XHR is based on, in '98 or '99 for Outlook Web Access.

Re: WebRTC is almost here, and it will change the web

#4

Post by dustismo » Mon, Aug 13, 2012, 7:08 PM UTC

barista wrote: post #3

>This is the most significant step forward in web browser connectivity since 2004, when Google launched Gmail and AJAX was coined That's not quite right. Microsoft invented XMLHTTP, the interface which XHR is based on, in '98 or '99 for Outlook Web Access.

Notice that he said "AJAX was coined" in 2004 not that the technology was invented.

Re: WebRTC is almost here, and it will change the web

#5

Post by dustismo » Mon, Aug 13, 2012, 7:12 PM UTC

AndrewDucker wrote: post #2

At the moment, NAT means that lots of connections have to go through a central server, at least to set up the connection. With IPv6, that need should vanish (providing you aren't firewalled by your router). The two things combined should remove a lot of middlemen.

Exactly. Almost everyone is behind a router so there is no way this is going to be as useful as stated in the article.

Re: WebRTC is almost here, and it will change the web

#6

Post by rfolstad » Mon, Aug 13, 2012, 7:12 PM UTC

AndrewDucker wrote: post #2

At the moment, NAT means that lots of connections have to go through a central server, at least to set up the connection. With IPv6, that need should vanish (providing you aren't firewalled by your router). The two things combined should remove a lot of middlemen.

Actually check out the webrtc talk from googleio. They use the NAT device's IP to get around this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8C8ouiXHHk

Re: WebRTC is almost here, and it will change the web

#7

Post by arendn » Mon, Aug 13, 2012, 7:18 PM UTC

dustismo wrote: post #5

AndrewDucker wrote: post #2

At the moment, NAT means that lots of connections have to go through a central server, at least to set up the connection. With IPv6, that need should vanish (providing you aren't firewalled by your router). The two things combined should remove a lot of middlemen.

Exactly. Almost everyone is behind a router so there is no way this is going to be as useful as stated in the article.

P2P firewall traversal is pretty common these days. Checkout STUN/ICE/TURN.

Re: WebRTC is almost here, and it will change the web

#8

Post by FakeUserNames » Mon, Aug 13, 2012, 7:25 PM UTC

Most def. the way things are trending, this is the new big thing. Look Out, the Revolution Sez Go!

Re: WebRTC is almost here, and it will change the web

#9

Post by drivebyacct2 » Mon, Aug 13, 2012, 7:31 PM UTC

dustismo wrote: post #5

AndrewDucker wrote: post #2

At the moment, NAT means that lots of connections have to go through a central server, at least to set up the connection. With IPv6, that need should vanish (providing you aren't firewalled by your router). The two things combined should remove a lot of middlemen.

Exactly. Almost everyone is behind a router so there is no way this is going to be as useful as stated in the article.

Every example I'm aware of for WebRTC right now uses STUN. It's part of ROAP and it's possible in JSEP (and easier, with ROAP-via-JSEP library).

Nah, everyone is just claiming this to be awesome and just happened to forget about NAT routers....

Re: WebRTC is almost here, and it will change the web

#10

Post by drivebyacct2 » Mon, Aug 13, 2012, 7:33 PM UTC

AndrewDucker wrote: post #2

At the moment, NAT means that lots of connections have to go through a central server, at least to set up the connection. With IPv6, that need should vanish (providing you aren't firewalled by your router). The two things combined should remove a lot of middlemen.

IPv6 does not mean the end of NAT, and WebRTC ROAP or JSEP already have ICE style STUN/TURN traversal mechanisms.

(4 months ago I had a demo working using ROAP and STUN before they switched to JSEP. I'm literally in the middle of upgrading it to the new API.)

The "setup" for the connections in the central server is trivial with a tiny websockets server and a few messages shuttled back and forth.