I have 5 computers that control different hardware. One of the five is the main controller for the other 4. I need to send commands from the main controller to the 4 slave controllers over TCPIP. I have very limited experience with Socket programming.
In the system I have which would be the client and which would be the server? It would seem to me that in the configuration I have the line between server and client may be skewed. Both sides need to send and receive commands, is there really a separation of client and server or is that just the convention? Can I have both endpoints as a client and server at the same time using the same socket? Essentially can I have both ends listening and sending requests?
I'm referencing the example code on MSN.
As far as socket connections go, who is the client and who is the server is just a matter of who accepts connections (the server) and who initiates a connect request (the client).
Once the connection is established, traffic can go in either direction (both client and server can send and/or receive data).