mesh-link

©Nobuyori Takahashi < voltrue2@yahoo.com >

Mesh Link is a server-side mesh network module that allows your processes to talk to each other remotely (within your private network ONLY).

The module uses redis, but it does not depend on it to handle the communications between server processes.

• Each mesh node semi-automatically discovers other mesh nodes via redis.

• All mesh nodes automatically detects when a new mesh node joins and when a mesh node leaves.

• It uses RUDP (Reliable User Datagram Protocol) for communication between the mesh nodes.

• The module allows to send a request message to another mesh node and require the receiver to send a response.

What Can I Use this Module For?

• You may use the module to connect micro-service servers. (Faster and lighter than HTTP).

• The module is also ideal for clustered real-time game servers.

Of course these aren't the only ways to use this module.

How To Install

npm install mesh-link

How To Use

Set Up Your Mesh Node

This is how you set up your mesh node and start it.

const mlink = require('mesh-link');
var configs = {
    redis: {
        host: '127.0.0.1',
        port: 6379
    },
    updateInterval: 1000,
    relayLimit: 1,
    relayDelay: 0,
    prefix: 'myapp',
    strict: false
};
mlink.start(configs)
    .then(() => {
        // Your mesh node is ready!
    })
    .catch((error) => {
        // error...
    });

Configurations

Name	Required	Default	Explanation
redis.host	YES	'127.0.0.1'	Host name of Redis
redis.port	YES	6379	Port of Redis
updateInterval	NO	1000	Update to Redis interval in milliseconds
relayLimit	NO	1	When sending a message to multiple mesh node, it sends the message relayLimit at a time
relayDelay	NO	0	Delays relay message by X milliseconds
prefix	NO	''	A custom prefix for the keys stored in Redis
nic	NO	'eth0'	Specify which network interface to use to dynamically obtain the IP address to bind to
address	NO	Dynamically obtained private IP address	IP address to bind. It uses eth0 by default. To change this, you must set nic to something else
port	NO	8100	Port range to bind. If it is 8100, then it will bind and increment
backups	NO		A map by node types to indicate each node type's number of other mesh nodes to be used as potential backup (you need to write your own backup logic)
sendInterval	NO	0	If greater than 0, all messages will be "batched" at given interval in milliseconds to be sent
strict	NO	true	If true and nic is given, but not found, mesh-link will throw an exception at start
useHash	NO	false	If true, each mesh node does not update its internal cache of other nodes unless the number of nodes change

Master-Slave Redis Configurations

If you are connecting to master-slave setup, you need to use the following configurations instead of redis { host, port } property:

NOTE If you want to have multiple slave Redis servers, you need to have a load balancer over the slave redis servers.

|redis.multi.master.host| |redis.multi.master.port| |redis.multi.slave.host | |redis.multi.slave.port |

Use Redis Sentinel

mesh-link supports Redis Sentinel also. In order to connect to Redis Sentinel, your configurations follow as shown below:

{
    redis: {
        sentinel: [
            { host, port },
            { host, port}
            [...]
        ]
    }
}
``

The `cluster` property must be an array with host and port objects. You do not have to cover all of your cluster nodes, but just a few.

## Use Redis Sentiel

mesh-link supports Redis Cluster also. In order to connect to Redis Cluster, your configurations follow as shown below:

{ redis: { sentinel: [ { host, port }, { host, port} [...] ] } } ``

The sentinel property must be an array with host and port objects. You do not have to cover all of your sentinel nodes, but just a few.

How To Send A Mesh Network Message

const mlink = require('mesh-link');
var handlerId = 1000;
var data = { message: 'Hello World!' };
// mesh nodes to send the message to
var nodes = [
    { address: '0.0.0.0', port: 8100 },
    { address: '0.0.0.0', port: 8101 }
];
mlink.send(handlerId, nodes, data);

How To Set Up A Message Handler

When you send a mesh network message to another mesh node,

You must have a handler for that message in order to do something.

Consider handlerId as a URI of a HTTP request.

mesh-link manages this by allowing you to define a handling function and its unique ID (UInt16).

const mlink = require('mesh-link');
var handlerId = 1000;
mlink.handler(handlerId, message1000Handler);

function message1000Handler(data) {
    var message = data.message;
    console.log('Another mesh node says:', message);
}

How To Send a Mesh Network Message And Ask For A Response Back

In order for this to worker, the handler function MUST send the response back with the data you require.

const mlink = require('mesh-link');
var handlerId = 2000;
var data = { message: 'foobar' };
var nodes = [
    { address: '0.0.0.0', port: 8100 }
];
mlink.send(handlerId, nodes, data, (responseData) => {
    console.log(responseData.message, 'response took', Date.now() - responseData.time, 'milliseconds');
});

How To Set Up A Message Handler With Response

const mlink = require('mesh-link');
var handlerId = 2000;
mlink.handler(handlerId, message2000Handler);

function message200Handler(data, callback) {
    var responseData = { message: data.message + '!!!', time: Date.now() };
    // make sure to call this callback to send the response
    callback(responseData);
}

Shared Objects

A shared object is an object that can be shared and mutated from all mesh nodes asynchronously, and the object remains synchronized across all mesh nodes.

More details on Shared Object is HERE

Example:

Mesh Node 1: Create a new shared object and store it on mesh node 2

const mlink = require('mesh-link');
var objectProperties = {
    counter: { value: 0, min: 0, max: 100 },
    name: { value: 'Foobar' },
    members: { value: {} }
};
// this shared object will disapeare if there is no change in 60 seconds
var ttl = 60000;
var nodeToStore = { address: '...', port: 8100 };
// this will create the shared object locally and sync it to the targeted node
var so = mlink.sharedObject.create(objectProperties, ttl, nodeToStore);
// add an event listener to be triggered when something happens to this shared object
so.on('update', (me, propertyName, propertyValue) => {
    // do something...
});
// make sure you have a cleaning function on remove event
so.on('remove', () => {
    // clean this object reference to avoid memory leak
    so = null;
});
// this change is automatically synced to all mesh nodes that has this shared object
// increment count by 10
so.inc('counter', 10);
// add a new item to the map
so.add('members', 'memberId-1', {name:'Bob'});
// mid is used to identify each shared object
var sendMidToNode2 = so.mid;

Mesh Node 2: Obtain the shared object that created on mesh node 1

const mlink = require('mesh-link');
// you must share mid of the shared object you want to get access to
mlink.sharedObject.get(mid)
    .then((so) => {
        // now he have the same shared object here on mesh node 2
        // make sure you have a cleaning function on remove event
        so.on('remove', () => {
            // clean this object reference to avoid memory leak
            so = null;
        });
        // this is automatically synced to both mesh node 1 and the node and other nodes that have this shared object!
        so.inc('counter', -3);
        so.del('members', 'memberId-1');
    })
    .catch((error) => {
        // error...
    });

Mesh Node 3: Remove a shared object across all mesh nodes

IMPORTANT You must have an event listner for remove event in order to perform cleaning to avoid memory leak by leaving the references behind

const mlink = require('mesh-link');
// make sure this reference has the listener to destory the reference on remove
so.on('remove', () => {
    // destory the object reference
    so = null;
});
// pass the shared object to remove
// this will automatically propagate to all mesh nodes
mlink.shared.Object.remove(so);

Methods

mesh-link has plethora of functions to help you build your application using mesh network!

setType(nodeType)

It sets the mesh node type of your choice.

It MUST be called before .start()

mlink.setType('MyCustomNodeType');
mlink.start();

getType()

Returns the value of mesh node type set by .setType().

start(configs, callback)

Starts mesh network. The function also returns a Promise object.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
configs	NO	Object	Configurations
callback	NO	Function	Callback function, if you are not using Promise, this is required

stop(callback)

Stops mesh network. The function also returns a Promise object.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
callback	NO	Function	Callback function, if you are not using Promise, this is required

setSplitSize(splitSize)

You may change the maximum byte size threshold for each mesh network message to be split into multiple messages.

info()

Returns the IP address and port number that this mesh network node uses as an object.

{ address: '0.0.0.0', port: 8101 }

handler(handlerId, handlerFunction)

Defines a handler function for the give handler ID.

All messages with the same handler ID will trigger this handler function.

IMPORTANT The range of valid handler ID is from 0 to 65000.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
handlerId	YES	Number	Unique ID of a handler (Max 0xffff)
handlerFunction	YES	Function	A function to be executed on the given handler ID

prepareNodes(nodeType, nodes)

Returns only valid mesh nodes to be used by .send() and .usend().

It requires nodes to have the same type as nodeType given in the first argument.

The main purpose of this method is to automatically replace invalid or dead mesh nodes with their backup nodes.

var preparedNodes = mlink.prepareNodes('MyCustomNodeType', nodes);
mlink.send(handlerId, preparedNodes, data);

send(handlerId, nodes, data, callback, options)

Sends a mesh network message with a handler ID to one or more mesh network nodes.

If callback is given, it is understood to require a response back.

NOTE If you require a response callback and send a message to multiple mesh nodes, the response callback will be sent from only ONE of the mesh nodes.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
handlerId	YES	Number	Unique ID of a handler (Max 0xffff)
nodes	YES	Array	An array of mesh nodes' address and port to send the message to
data	YES	Object	Message as an object to be sent
callback	NO	Function	Provid the callback function if you require a response back
options.limit	NO	Number	Overwrites configuration relayLimit

usend(handlerId, nodes, data, callback, options)

Sends an unreliable mesh network message with a handler ID to one or more mesh network nodes.

This is a plain UDP message and the message may be lost due to the nature of UDP protocol.

The advantage of using this method is message size is much smaller than that of send() and less UDP packets required.

NOTE Callback response message may also be lost.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
handlerId	YES	Number	Unique ID of a handler (Max 0xffff)
nodes	YES	Array	An array of mesh nodes' address and port to send the message to
data	YES	Object	Message as an object to be sent
callback	NO	Function	Provid the callback function if you require a response back
options.limit	NO	Number	Overwrites configuration relayLimit

onUpdate(handler)

handler is called before the mesh network node updates its sate to Redis.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
handler	YES	Function	A handler function to be called every time before update of its state

onUpdated(handler)

handler is called after the mesh network node updates its state to Redis and other mesh nodes' states.

A copy of other nodes' states including its own state, is passed to handler as an argument.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
handler	YES	Function	A handler function to be called every time before update of its state

setValue(name, value)

IMPORTANT The value must NOT contain ""`.

It can set any value to be shared with other mesh network nodes.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
name	YES	String	A name of the value
value	YES	Any	A value to be shared with other mesh nodes

Example:

const mlink = require('mesh-link');
mlink.setValue('serverType', 'TCP');
mlink.setValue('serverStatus', 'online');

getNodeValue(address, port, name)

Returns all values set by setValue(...) as an object.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
address	YES	String	IP address of the target mesh node
port	YES	Number	Port of the target mesh node

getNodesByType(nodeType)

Returns all mesh nodes of the type given as nodeType.

[
    { address: '0.0.0.0', port: 8100 },
    { address: '0.0.0.0', port: 8101 },
    {...}
]

getNodeEndPoints()

Returns all mesh nodes' address and port as an array.

[
    { address: '0.0.0.0', port: 8100 },
    { address: '0.0.0.0', port: 8101 },
    {...}
]

nodeExists(address, port)

Returns a boolean to indicate if asked mesh node exists or not.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
address	YES	String	IP address of the target mesh node
port	YES	Number	Port of the target mesh node

isLocalNode(address, port)

Returns a boolean to indicate if asked node is itself or not.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
address	YES	String	IP address of the target mesh node
port	YES	Number	Port of the target mesh node

getBackupNodes(address, port)

Returns back up mesh nodes as an array of the given mesh node address and port.

If no address and port are given, it returns the back up mesh nodes array of its own.

sharedObject.create(properties, ttl, node)

Creates a shared object with the given properties.

It returns an instance of the shared object created.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
properties	YES	Object	Properties of the shared object
ttl	NO	Number	Optional TTL of the shared object in milliseconds. Default is 300000ms (5 minutes)
node	YES	Object	The mesh node address and port to store the shared object: { address, port }

Properties Format

The properties of a shared object is defined as:

{
    <property name>: {
        value: <initial value>,
        min: <if the value is a number>,
        max: <if the value is a number>
    }
    {...}
}

sharedObject.remove(sharedObject)

Deletes the given shared object across all mesh nodes.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
sharedObject	YES	Object	The instance of shared object to be deleted

sharedObject.get(mid, callback)

Retrieves a shared object specified by mid (managed ID) from the mesh node that it lives and caches it locally.

It returns Promise.

Argument	Required	Data Type	Explanation
mid	YES	String	Managed ID of the shared object: sharedObject.mid
callback	NO	Function	Returns with an error or a shared object. If you use Promise, you do not need the callback

Instance of Shared Object

An instance of shared object has methods and properties.

Currently the properties support the following data types: Number and Map.

.mid

This is the unique ID of this particular shared object.

.get(propertyName)

Returns the value of a property specified by propertyName.

Promise .inc(propertyName, value, callback)

If the targeted property is a number, it performs increment by the given value.

If you want to make sure, the change has been successful, you can either pass a callback or use a promise.

Below is the example using Promise:

// this is a shared object
bunny.inc('stamina', 3)
    .then(() => {
        // increment was successul
    })
    .catch((error) => {
        // increment rejected
    });

Promise .set(propertyName, value, callback)

It replaces the value of the targeted property.

If you want to make sure, the change has been successful, you can either pass a callback or use a promise.

Below is the example using Promise:

// this is a shared object
bunny.set('name', 'Peter')
    .then(() => {
        // set was successul
    })
    .catch((error) => {
        // set rejected
    });

Promise .add(propertyName, key, value, callback)

If the targeted property is a map, it adds a new key with a value to the map property.

If you want to make sure, the change has been successful, you can either pass a callback or use a promise.

Below is the example using Promise:

// this is a shared object
swimmingClub.add('members', 'memberId-100', { name: 'Bod', age: 40 })
    .then(() => {
        // add was successul
    })
    .catch((error) => {
        // add rejected
    });

del(propertyName, key, callback)

If the targeted property is a map, it remves the key and its value from the map property.

If you want to make sure, the change has been successful, you can either pass a callback or use a promise.

Below is the example using Promise:

// this is a shared object
swimmingClub.del('members', 'memberId-100')
    .then(() => {
        // delete was successul
    })
    .catch((error) => {
        // delete rejected
    });

Evevnts

An instance of shared object also has some events you can listen to.

update

Update event is triggered whenever the shared object's property is changed.

remove

Remove event is triggered whenever the shared object is deleted from its source and internal cache.

Make sure to clean up all references that you might have when you get this event to avid memory leaks.

How To Test For Communications

You may want to test if all nodes can communicate each other before launching your application.

To do that, you simply need to execute ./bin/ping <address of a mesh node> <port of a mesh node>.

If you get PONG\n back from the targeted mesh node, it means you can talk to that mesh node.