Chat server with websocket+node.js vs a native cli

Question

I couldn't find any reasonable benchmarks regarding comparison between a chat client that runs with using node.js chat server V.S. a client that works with xmpp.

I know node.js is async and as far as I know so does xmpp . However, my main concern is performance with same amount of concurrent users.

I would need this information to write an android app. Would like to know your opinions and advantages/disadvantages using both systems.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I have built a couple of chat services with Node.js for clients, and while I can say that it's easy to get a basic chat service running with Node.js, you will likely spend a lot of time reinventing the wheel if you choose to go this route. An XMPP server like eJabberd has a lot of built-in functionality you won't have to rebuild. Authentication, multi-user chat, moderation (kick/ban/ignore), user preferences, logging, etc.

For the projects I've worked on, eJabberd was certainly overkill, since they only needed the basics, but you should carefully consider your use case becore making a decision.

I'm thinking of creating a Node.js web client for XMPP, to make something akin to Campfire, but with eJabberd as its backend. I haven't actually committed to doing this, but I think it would be a nice way to get the best of both worlds.

Answer 2

While I understand what you're asking, you're attempting to compare a server-side Javascript implementation (Node.js) with a messaging protocol (XMPP).

There are many off-the-shelf XMPP servers, and lots of client libraries, already written. Since these are the concrete things you'll be working with you should be evaluating these if you are considering using XMPP, and then comparing it to other solutions to your problem.

If you implement something yourself on top of Node and websockets then you need to handle all the things that XMPP already provides, such as authentication, encryption, the application protocol, etc. as well as all the server-side routing logic. Many XMPP servers also support clustering - transparently running multiple servers behind a single domain.

Ultimately the choice is yours, as you know the most about your particular application. You should compare solutions not only on their single-node performance but also development time and scalability among other factors.

Answer 3

It also depends on what kind of client you are writing: browser based clients use BOSH which is XMPP over HTTP, which uses long polling (similar to comet). This creates at least one request every 30 seconds (depending on settings) from each client, which starts to add up after you get a few thousand clients. I'd be interested to see a comparison on that - seems like web sockets should have an advantage there.