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ConferenceRoom Update
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November 25, 2009
ConferenceRoom 4.0 is a wrap up bug fix version of
the 3.x series servers. This is a free update for
any licensed 3.5 server. The main feature that this
version resolves is the changes that are required
to run the flash client by adding a built in policy
server.
July 12, 2007
ConferenceRoom 3.5 has very few new chat server features
but does introduce the new Flash client interface.
We think our clients will be pleased with the speed
and stability of this new client.
History...
10 years, it seems like such a long time but that
is how old ConferenceRoom is. When CR was first released
in August of 1996 it was the first written from scratch
IRC compliant commercial chat server on the market,
it was also the very first chat server on the windows
platform. The only other commercial chat product was
Global Stage (long since gone) and shortly after our
release iChat was released. The first java client
to connect to an IRC server was written by Dimension
X in San Francisco (also long since gone), their chat
client connected to one of the 2.8.21 ircd versions
- ConferenceRoom was released maybe a month later.
Why is all of this important? When a customer chooses
a technology base that they rely on it's very nice
to know that the company and the product have withstood
the test of time. The product has changed but our
drive toward innovation is what keeps ConferenceRoom
one of the most popular chat products on the Internet.
- Queue - Channel queuing system 'Take-a-Ticket'
now has estimated wait times.
- Virtual Hosting - Chat and Web Server Virtual
hosting with tree based channel topography.
- DNSBL - Domain Name Service Black List.
- TV Style Channel Ratings.
- Personal Logs.
- Enhanced server language support.
- Java Client themes switch on the fly and have
language options.
- Integrated Server Commands.
- And more...
ConferenceRoom 3.0 brings many significant technical
enhancements. This not only improves performance on
all platforms in all configurations but also makes
possible sophisticated features that would slow competing
products to a crawl.
Support for Ultrasparc processors running Solaris
10 has been added in this release. This includes the
SunFire T1000 and T2000 servers. ConferenceRoom runs
extremely well on these platforms, and their advanced
management features make them particularly worth consideration
in unattended server rooms or where low power consumption
and high reliability are important.
Support for Apple's OSX (Darwin) operating system
on Pentium-class processors has been added as well.
Now you will not need to use emulation to run ConferenceRoom
on these platforms.
Significant improvements were made in the x86-specific
core code. These improvements help Win32, Linux, FreeBSD,
and Apple computers with Pentium processors. Support
for hyper-threading has been improved. On Linux, support
for the 'epoll' I/O mechanism has been added and synchronization
primitives have been redesigned using futexes, significantly
reducing the number of system calls on fast paths.
On Win32, our locking synchronization primitives were
redesigned to reduce register clobbers, a suprisingly
significant micro optimization.
ConferenceRoom's best in class memory manager has
been improved further. The memory manager in 3.0 increases
the independence of its memory pools so that threads
have a greater ability to access pools concurrently.
A new locking design has reduced the amount of time
threads hold memory-manager locks and a new system
of lookaside pools allow threads to access memory
from alternate pools when primary pools are in use.
An asynchronous memory defragmenter ensures performance
does not decrease over time for long-running servers
without cluttering the fast paths in the allocator.
ConferenceRoom 3.0 now supports personal logging.
This feature allows a user to have a log of his session
made on the server. The log will be encrypted, signed,
and mailed to the user, providing cryptographic proof
of what transpired in his session. Excerpts are independently
signed, sequenced, and timestamped. If you want to,
you can now prove exactly what happened in your chat
session.
ConferenceRoom 3.0 also includes a 'virtual server'
functionality. You can change the channel view based
on the host and port used to access your server. You
can also create server operators or operators whose
authority is restricted to a specific zone. The web
server also supports virtual hosting now.
A new URL filtering scheme allows chat messages to
be filtered for URLs that are spamvertized. Improved
denial-of-service attack resistance and proxy checking
is included as well.
A major change in ConferenceRoom 3.0 is the switch
to a security model based on public key encryption.
Instead of server keys, ConferenceRoom now uses server
certificates which are signed by a master key. The
certificate allows a server to cryptographically prove
that it owns its serial number. This not only has
security benefits but convenience benefits as well.
For example, instead of having to carefully set matching
passwords on both ends to establish a server-server
link, now all you need to do is configure each end
with the other end's serial number. All server-to-server
traffic is encrypted and authenticated.
Networks can install their master network credentials
on hubs and have signed authorization broadcast to
leaves periodically. Disconnected leaves have their
authorization to represent the network expire automatically.
Just install your network certificate on your hub(s)
and all connected servers will be identified as members
of your network automatically.
Contact WebMaster for a trial certificate to allow
you to test out these advanced features for yourself.
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