Flash Communication Server architecture overview > Flash Communication Server architecture overview

Flash Communication Server architecture overview

The Macromedia Flash Communication Server MX 1.5 platform is made up of two parts: the server, which provides the means of communication, and Macromedia Flash Player. Applications built on this platform consist of a client Macromedia Flash movie (SWF) that is run by Flash Player, and a server component that communicates with the client. The server component consists, minimally, of an application folder you've created on the server running Flash Communication Server. This folder can optionally contain Server-Side Communication ActionScript (ASC) files and other resource files used by the communication application.

The server and the Flash client movie communicate over a persistent connection using Real-Time Message Protocol (RTMP). In a typical scenario, the Flash client is delivered to the Flash Player by a web server over HTTP. The Flash client then establishes a persistent connection to Flash Communication Server using RTMP, allowing for an uninterrupted data stream to flow between client and server.

Multiple users (Flash clients) can connect to the same application running on Flash Communication Server, which acts as a communication channel between connected users.

The Flash Communication Server provides a channel of communication for clients.