InfiniteCD Server Architecture

The server side consists of two pieces: a Push Server and a Web Server component.

3.1 Push Server

The InfiniteCD Infrastructure is designed to work with a variety of push servers available on the market today. The push server is responsible for creating and delivering content updates to each client system, customized based on criteria specified in the user profile.

Pushed data is typically small to medium in size, dynamic and user specific. Pushed data could include price updates, sales and promotional information, and other relevant dynamic information. The InfiniteCD client also sends data to the push server in the form of user profiles or information about client capabilities such as the CPUID.

3.2 Web Server

The Web Server component provides a mechanism for delivering interactive content live from the Internet. This content can include, but is not limited to, electronic commerce transactions or live chat sessions.

On the client side, it is necessary to include complementary Web browsing capability. This capability can be seamlessly integrated into the user interface. For Macromedia Director applications there is a Director Xtra called WebXtra* from Tabuleiro de Baiana (www.tbaiana.com). For applications that support ActiveX controls, using Microsoft's Web Browser control is an excellent and easy way to integrate the exact functionality of Internet Explorer into a custom application.