I am looking for a free Comet server which is also free for commercial use. The server must support the following:
* basic publish/subscribe functionality with timestamps checking (so no losing messages occurs while the browser re-inits connection), no fancy features needed;
* supports publishing messages from any type of client though some simple message format (just send some data in some certain format to some certain URL, and server sends it out to all the subscribers);
* can identify connected user (subscriber) by our supplied ID, so the user always receives the data he subscribed for, even if he has opened multiple browsers or using multiple tabs;
* does not force keep-alive connections for message publishing so PHP script can just publish and die();
* it would be great if the server could itself call some URL if some certain message is received from a publisher (like running a PHP script and passing some data);
* sane subscription channel implementation to avoid JSONP or tricky DNS subdomain configurations (as APE needs);
* Javascript API libraries would also be great, but we could also use jQuery - if only the server supports a simple messaging protocol;
* a simple PHP API for publishing would be a great bonus;
* stable and robust;
* up-to-date documentation and support forum or active newsgroup/IRC.
I looked at APE engine but has some nasty problems: http://www.nulldevice.de/2010/09/ape-ajax-push-engine/
Ngnix with NGiNX_HTTP_Push_Module seems good but it is at beta stage and it seems missing some features. But I like its simplicity and overall implementation
I have only PHP/Javascript experience for now.
As I have read, many are using custom solutions based on Twisted, Node.JS and so on.
What would you suggest as a stable and reliable Comet server?
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