TL;DR: This is a proxy server that routes HTTP requests from a unique subdomain (e.g. http://m7rp3u2ntr9t3xr.browserver.org) to a browser that's visiting browserver.org. The JavaScript in the browser then handles the HTTP response. This is possible thanks to a persistent connection between the browser and browserver.org, via some "websocket-like" protocol.
The title "node.js HTTP server, in your browser" is because the HTTP handler in the client (browser) has a Node-like API, see:
I put browserver together in my free time over the last week. It's still a bit of a toy, but I think it's useful to explore ideas around extending webhooks all the way to the browser, to simplify our increasingly complicated web architectures.
It's already late here in Tokyo, but I'll be up for a bit if anyone wants to chat/brainstorm about approaches like this (and also to make sure the server stays up).
Hey! I am doing something very similar with PageKite (http://pagekite.net/), although the server does not run in a browser.
I've decided to try to get authors of similar tools together on a mailing list to discuss whether we can agree on a common protocol so our clients/servers (connectors/relays, backends/frontends) can be interoperable. Join us: http://mailman.klaki.net/mailman/listinfo/revprotun
I had this idea, too, the killer application is actually demos and talks, I think. The speaker sets up their browser server, asks the audience to hit a URL, and then demonstrates in real time aspects of the system.
It's also a very neat way to bring WebKit Inspector to bear on server style code. Glad you did it! I presume that you have a wildcard subdomain at the DNS level and then some Node parsing magic to correctly proxy. Why subdomains though? Why not just a tag like browserver.com/29adfija02 ?
Basically a web browser reaches the Node HTTP server and gets assigned a throwaway hostname on the Node server. The browser and the server have a bidirectional connection (probably WebSocket via Socket.io or something). The throwaway hostname can be queried, via an HTTP API, and will, upon request, query the web browser through the bidirectional connection then will relay the results back.
I find this title rather misleading. There is no node.js HTTP server in your browser. Meaning, you cannot do anything that is part of Node.js in the browser "server"
The browser is still running its original js engine with none of the Node goodies. It merely receives proxied requests, does some stuff to it, then sends it back to the proxy, which returns it to the client.
It merely receives proxied requests, does some stuff to it, then sends it back to the proxy, which returns it to the client.
You just described the majority of the web servers that we web developers deal with. Sure, it's a proxy, but the fact that the machine responding is connected via WebSocket and not a local network doesn't make it any less of a server, in my opinion.
I do get that the idea is that it "just" uses javascript (the server appears to be down, so I'm actually guessing) -- but when such projects already exist, I kind of expected more...
I don't really see why this is special. It's just a websocket connection that happens to show every request made to the server. Your browser is not a server, no matter which way you cut it.
I think there's a ton of unrealized potential in this kind of thinking. Although people will say 'But that was done by X a year ago!' I see that as evidence that this is gaining momentum.
Now, what's the project that will fully take advantage of this kind of thing?
I think the Opera Unity approach is probably the best for this; perhaps such peernets will have their day.
I see the Unity approach being popularise via social networking (https://alicious.com/opera-about-to-change-the-world/) enabling users to retain control over their data and shop for suppliers to present a front-end to unify the data-streams of their associates.
A lot of times it is about coming up with the right terminology and positioning of an idea for it to "take off". This is a really nice approach in that it utilizes concepts/a paradigm we are already comfortable with.
Yeah, agreed. Seems like one of the best things about this is that it positions a (potentially) big idea in a way which makes it easily understandable and fairly everyday.
I mean yes, you never know what it will be used for. It may not be anything by itself, but combined with a dozen other things it may be critical for something clever. That's what I love about the internet - it's a massive jigsaw puzzle.
Weinre is a project that, if my understanding of it is correct, leverages the same basic idea. It's used to remotely debug mobile browser issues and also uses Node.
Anyone know if browserver.org is self hosting (i.e. running on some guys desktop/laptop in a browser window)? Site is down at the moment and I'm wondering if this is why.
Would that happen to be one of the free http://no.de instances?
Which if I recall correctly come with 128mb ram on their custom solaris servers... I always wondered what kind of load those small configurations using NodeJS while handling something non-trivial could do.
Could you share some traffic/load numbers from getting HN'ed?
Hard to tell right now... I started at Joyent's smallest node.js offering (1GB) and then ramped it up to 8GB when the load hit. The server is crashing a lot, but it's not very easy for me to debug right now.
Let me get back to you once the dust settles, deal?
The title "node.js HTTP server, in your browser" is because the HTTP handler in the client (browser) has a Node-like API, see:
https://github.com/jed/browserver-client#example