Is it possible to send data directly from a server to a vb.net client application without using raw TCP sockets?
Creating a multi threaded TPC socket server is much more difficult than if a use a few simple php scripts with get and post commands. I know with http the client must request data, so if I want to respond to new data quickly I’ll have to poll frequently and I want to avoid this.
My requirements are basically to respond to new that arrives in the server as quickly as possible and at the same time minimize data transfer. What protocol is best suited for this or will I have to use raw TCP sockets?
I must still create the server, so I can do it in any language, but I want to keep it as simple as possible. I’m using amazon web services, so I don’t think scaling or too many connection will be a problem.
Have a look at listen for data on TCP port C# for links on how to do what you want.
EDIT:
You could also use WCF (clients register with the server for callbacks), SignalR as Colin suggested or NServiceBus.