GGS-report/report.lyx

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\begin_layout Title
Reliable Generic Game Server
\end_layout

\begin_layout Author
Niklas Landin
\begin_inset Newline newline
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Richard Pannek
\begin_inset Newline newline
\end_inset

Mattias Pettersson
\begin_inset Newline newline
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Jonatan Pålsson
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\begin_layout Abstract
This is the abstract!
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\begin_layout Chapter
Introduction
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Online gaming, and computer gaming in general has become an important part
 in many peoples day-to day lives.
 A few years ago, computer games were not at all as popular as they are
 today.
 With the advances in computer graphics and computer hardware today's games
 are much more sophisticated then they were in the days of 
\emph on
Hack
\emph default
, 
\emph on
Zork, 
\emph default
or 
\emph on
Pac Man.
\emph default

\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Was it really called Zork?
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The early computer games featured simple, or no graphics at all.
 
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Drop a reference to Hack
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\end_inset

 The games often took place in a textual world, leaving the task of picturing
 the world up to the player.
 Multi-player games were not as common as they are today, whereas most games
 today are expected to have a multi-player mode, most early games did not.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Since these early games, the gaming industry have become much more influential
 in many ways.
 Many advanced in computer hardware are thought to come from pressure from
 the computer game industry.
 More powerful games require more powerful, and more easily available hardware
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Drop a reference to the gaming industry pressuring more advanced hardware
\end_layout

\end_inset

.
 Due to the high entertainment value of modern computer games, gaming has
 become a huge industry, where large amounts of money are invested.
 The gaming industry is today, in some places even larger than the motion
 picture industry.
 
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Drop a reference to that graphic we found, about the motion picture industry
 VS.
 gaming industry
\end_layout

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\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Due to the increasing importance of computer gaming, more focus should be
 spent on improving the quality of the gaming service.
 As more and more computer games are gaining multi-player capabilities,
 the demands for multiplayer networking software rises.
 This thesis is about techniques for improving the quality if this networking
 software.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The reliable generic game server, hereafter known as GGS, is a computer
 program designed to 
\emph on
host
\emph default
 network games on one or more server computers.
 Hosting, in a network software setting, means allowing client software
 connect to the server software, for the purpose of utilizing services provided
 by the server.
 The GGS software provides games as a service, and the clients connecting
 to the GGS can play these games on the GGS.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The idea of game servers is not new, network games have been played for
 decades.
 Early, popular examples of network games include the 
\emph on
Quake
\emph default
 series, or the 
\emph on
Doom
\begin_inset Note Note
status collapsed

\begin_layout Plain Layout

\emph on
Come up w/ better game
\end_layout

\end_inset


\emph default
 games.
 Newer examples of network games include 
\emph on
World of Warcraft
\emph default
, and 
\emph on
Counter-Strike
\emph default
.
 The difference between the GGS and the servers for these games is that
 the servers for Doom, Quake, and the others listed, were designed with
 these specific games in mind.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
What GGS does is to provide a 
\emph on
generic
\emph default
 framework for developing network games.
 The framework is generic in the sense that it is not bound to a specific
 game.
 There are many different types of games, some are inheritly more time sensitive
 than others, strategy games are examples of games which are not very sensitive
 to time delays, first-person shooters however, can be very sensitive.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The generic nature of the GGS allows the creation of many different types
 of games, the motivation behind this is to remove the neccessity of writing
 new game servers when developing new games.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The GGS is in addition to being generic, also 
\emph on
reliable
\emph default
 in the sense that the gaming service provided is consistant and available.
 A consistant and available server is a server that handles hardware failiures
 and software failiures gracefully.
 In the event of a component breaking within the GGS, the error is handled
 by fault recovery processes, thereby creating a more reliable system.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Background 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The game industry is a quickly growing industry where the need for new technique
s is large.
 One specific section where the development has stalled is the game server
 section.
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Citation needed
\end_layout

\end_inset

 The existing game servers are functional but they lack good fault tolerance
 and the ability to scale well
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Citation needed
\end_layout

\end_inset

.
 Users will notice this in low uptime and many crashes.
 This is a problem that has existed and been resolved in other industries.
 In the telecom industry solutins to similar problems have been found.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
A common figure often used in telecoms is that of 
\emph on
the nine nines
\emph default
, referring to 
\begin_inset Formula $99.999999999\%$
\end_inset

 of availability, or rougly 
\begin_inset Formula $15ms$
\end_inset

 downtime in a year.
 The level of instability and bad fault tolerance seen in the game server
 industry would not have been accepted in the telecoms industry.
 This level of instability should not be accepted in the game server industry
 either.
 An unavailabvle phone system could potentially have life threatening consequenc
es, leaving the public unable to contant emergency services.
 The same can not be said about an unavailable game server.
 The statement that game servers are less important than phone systems is
 not a reason not to draw wisdom from what the telecoms have already learnt.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Moving back to the gaming industry.
 The main reason to develop reliable servers are monetary, it is important
 for game companies to expand its customer base.
 Reliable game servers are one improvement that will create a good image
 of a company.
 In general the downtime of game servers are much higher than the downtime
 of telecom system.
 The structure of the system is similar in many ways and it should be possible
 to reuse solutions from the telecom system to improve game servers.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In the current state game servers are developed on a per-game basis, in
 many cases this seems like a bad solution.
 Developers of network game need to understand network programming.
 A way to change this is a generic game server which give the game developers
 a server which they implement their game towards.
 This approach would not only make it easier to develop network games, it
 would also allow games in different programming languages to be implemented
 using the same server.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Some factors key to the development of GGS have been isolated.
 Many of these come from the telecom sector.
 The factors are 
\emph on
scalability, fault tolerance 
\emph default
and being 
\emph on
generic
\emph default
.
 These terms are defined below.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Scalability (see 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand ref
reference "sec:Scalability"

\end_inset

) in computer science is a large topic and is commonly divided into sub-fields,
 two of which are 
\emph on
structural scalability
\emph default
 and 
\emph on
load scalability
\emph default
 
\begin_inset CommandInset citation
LatexCommand citet
key "Bondi:2000:CSI:350391.350432"

\end_inset

.
 These two issues are addressed in this thesis.
 Structural scalability means expanding an architecture, e.g.
 adding nodes to a system, without requiring modification of the system.
 Load scalability means using the available resources in a way which allows
 handling increasing load, e.g more users, gracefully.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Fault tolerance (see 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand ref
reference "sec:Fault-Tolerance"

\end_inset

) is used to raise the level of 
\emph on
dependability
\emph default
 in a system, so that the dependability is high even in presence of errors.
 Dependability is defined as the statistical probability of the system functioni
ng as intended at a given point in time.
 Fault tolerance is defined as the property of a system to always follow
 a specification, even in the presence of errors.
 The specification could take the form of error handling procedures which
 activate when an error occurs.
 This means that a fault tolerant, dependable system, will have a very high
 probability of functioning at a given point in time, and is exactly what
 is desired.
 
\begin_inset CommandInset citation
LatexCommand citet
key "Gartner:1999:FFD:311531.311532"

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
A generic (see 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand ref
reference "sec:Generic"

\end_inset

) game server has to be able to run different client-server network games
 regardless of the platform the clients are running on.
 It runs network games of different type.
 A very rough separation of games is real time games and turn based games.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The server behaves in a way similar to an application server, but is designed
 to help running games.
 An application server provides processing ability and time, therefore it
 is different from a file- or print-server, which only serves resources
 to the clients.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The most common type of application servers are web servers, where you run
 a web application within the server.
 The application server provides an environment and interfaces to the outer
 world, in which applications run.
 Hooks and helpers are provided to use the resources of the server.
 Some examples for web application servers are the 
\emph on
Glassfish
\emph default
 server which allows running applications written in Java or the 
\emph on
Google App Engine
\emph default
 where you can run applications written in Python or some language which
 runs in the 
\emph on
Java Virtual Machine
\emph default
.
 An example of an application server not powering web applications, but
 instead regular business logic, is Oracle’s 
\emph on
TUXEDO
\emph default
 application server, which can be used to run applications written in COBOL,
 C++ and other languages.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
A database server can also be seen as an application server.
 Scripts, for example SQL queries or JavaScript, are sent to the server,
 which runs them and returns the evaluated data to the clients.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
One of the purposes of this thesis is to investigate how we can make a game
 server as generic as possible.
 Some important helpers are discussed, such as abstraction of the network
 layer, data store and game specific features.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
As an aid in discussing the theoretical parts of the GGS a prototype has
 been developed.
 The prototype does not feature all of the characteristics described in
 this thesis.
 A selection has been made among the features, and the most important ones
 have been implemented either full or in part in the prototype.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The choice of implementation language for the prototype of the GGS was made
 with inspiration from the telecom industry.
 The Erlang language was developed by the telecom company Ericsson to develop
 highly available and dependable telecom switches.
 One of the most reliable systems ever developed by Ericsson, the AXD301
 was developed using Erlang.
 The AXD301 is also possibly has the largest code base even written in a
 functional language 
\begin_inset CommandInset citation
LatexCommand citep
key "Armstrong03"

\end_inset

.
 The same language is used to develop the prototype of the GGS.
 Chapter 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand vref
reference "cha:Implementation-of-a"

\end_inset

 provides a description of the prototype developed for this thesis.
  
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
We could go on and on about erlang..
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Purpose
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset Note Note
status collapsed

\begin_layout Plain Layout
The purpose of the GGS project.
 What is the purpose of creating a fault tolerant server, why is it generic,
 and what good does it do to have a scalable system? In the background,
 we should give the motivations behind creating this software, but here
 we should outline why the software is needed.
 This section should be shortened, and the bulk of the text should be moved
 to theory or background.
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The purpose of creating a generic and fault tolerant game server is to provide
 a good framework for the development of many different types of games.
 Allowing the system to scale up and down is a powerful way to maximize
 the usage of physical resources.
 By scaling up to new machines when load increases, and scaling down from
 machines when load decreases costs and energy consumption can be optimized.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Fault tolerance is important for the GGS in order to create a reliable service.
 The purpose of a reliable game server is to provide a consistant service
 to people using the server.
 Going back to the telecom example, the purpose of creating a reliable telecom
 system is to allow calls, possibly emergency calls, at any time.
 Should the telecom network be unavailable at any time, emergency services
 may become unavailable, furthermore the consumer image of the telecom system
 degrades.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Returning to the game industry, emergency services will not be contacted
 using a game server, however an unavailable server will degrade the consumer
 image of the system.
 Consider an online casino company.
 The online casino company's servers must be available at all times to allow
 customers to play.
 If the servers are unavailable, customers can not play, and the company
 loses money.
 In this scenario, an unavailable server can be compared to a closed real-world
 casino.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Challenges in developing the prototype
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The word 
\emph on
generic
\emph default
 in the game of the GGS implies that the system is able to run a very broad
 range of different code, for instance code written in different programming
 languages, in addition to a broad range of different game types.
 In order to support this, a virtual machine (VM) for each 
\emph on
game development language
\emph default
 (hereafter GDL for brevity) is used.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
No hard limit has been set on which languages can be used for game development
 on the GGS, but there are several factors which decide the feasibility
 of a language; 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
How well it integrates with Erlang, which is used in the core the GGS system
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
How easy it is to send messages to the virtual machine of the GDL from the
 GGS 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
How easy it is to send messages from the GDL VM to the GGS
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Add more like threads, events, etc.
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Internally, the GDL VM needs to interface with the GGS to make use of the
 helpers and tools that the GGS provides.
 Thus an internal API has to be designed for use in interacting with the
 GGS.
 This API is ideally completely independent of the GDL, and reusable for
 any GDL.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The communication with gaming clients has to take place over a protocol.
 Ideally a standard protocol should be used, in order to shorten the learning
 curve for developers, and also make the system as a whole less obscure.
 A large challenge during this project is to decide whether an existing
 protocol can be used, and if not, how a new protocol can be designed which
 performs technically as desired, while still being familiar enough to existing
 developers.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
A great deal of work is devoted to make the GGS 
\emph on
reliable
\emph default
.
 This includes ensuring that the system scales well, and to make sure it
 is fault tolerant.
 In order to facilitate scalability, we need a storage platform which is
 accessible and consistent among all of the GGS, this is also investigated.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Limitations of the prototype
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The implementation of the GGS protocol, together with storage possibilities,
 server capacity, and game language support imposes some limitations on
 the project.
 To get a functional prototype some limits must be set on the types games
 that can be played on the prototype.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The UDP protocol is not supported for communication between client and server.
 The TCP protocol was chosen in favour of UDP, due to the fact that the
 implementation process using TCP was faster than if UDP would have been
 used.
 UDP is generally considered to be faster than TCP for the transfer of game
 (and other) related data, this is discussed in more depth in 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand vref
reference "sec:Choice-of-network"

\end_inset

.
 In short, the decision of using TCP means that games that requires a high
 speed protocol will not be supported by the GGS prototype.
 Another limitation necessary to set on the system is the possibility to
 have huge game worlds due to the implementation of the scaling mechanism
 in the prototype.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In real time games all players are playing together at the same time.
 Latency is a huge problem in real time games, a typical round trip time
 for such games is one of 
\begin_inset Formula $50$
\end_inset

 to 
\begin_inset Formula $150ms$
\end_inset

 and everything above 
\begin_inset Formula $200ms$
\end_inset

 is reported to be intolerable 
\begin_inset CommandInset citation
LatexCommand citet
key "Farber:2002:NGT:566500.566508"

\end_inset

.
 Latency sensitive games include most of the first person shooters with
 multiplayer ability, for example 
\emph on
Counter Strike
\emph default
 or massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG:s), for example
 
\emph on
World of Warcraft
\emph default
.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In turn based games each player has to wait for their turn.
 Latency is not a problem since the gameplay does not require fast interactions
 between the players, long round trip times will not be noticed.
 Examples of turn based games include board and card games, as well as multiplay
er games like 
\emph on
Jeopardy
\emph default
.
 Both game types have varying difficulties and needs when it comes to implementi
ng them, a Generic Game Server should address all of them and help the developer
 to accomplish his goal.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Due to the limited capability of threading in many GDL VM:s, the GGS prototype
 will not support MMORPG:s.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The implementation of the GGS described in this thesis is only a small prototype
 and tests will be performed on simple games like pong or chess, thus there
 are no need to implement more advanced features in the system.
 It is important to note that these limitations only apply for the prototype
 of the project, and that further developments to the GGS could be to implement
 these features.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Method
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
Development process 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
A prototype was developed early on in the project in order to carry out
 experiments.
 Using this prototype, the system was divided into modules.
 A demand specification was created, using this specification, the modules
 were easily identifiable.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The first prototype of the GGS consisted of simple modules, however, due
 to the separation of concerns between the modules, they were easily independant
ly modified and improved.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Once the basic structure of the GGS had been established, the first prototype
 was removed, remaining was the structure of the modules and the internal
 flow of the application.
 This could be seen as an interative workflow, with the first prototype
 being the first iteration.
 The second iteration later became the final result of the GGS
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
Design
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The layout of the GGS is both layered and modular.
 The first layer handles the most primitive data and produces a higher level
 representation of the data, passing it along to different modules of the
 GGS.
 The modular structure of the GGS plays an important role in making the
 system fault tolerant.
 The approach to fault tolerance is by replication, and restarting faulting
 modules with the last known good data.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Perhaps a graphic of this modular layout..?
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
Testing and evaluation 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Can we use quickcheck?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Chapter
Theory behind the GGS 
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "cha:Theory"

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In this chapter, the theory behind the techniques used in the GGS are discussed.
 Performance issues and the measuring of performance is discussed.
 Benchmarking techniques are discussed.
 The options when choosing network protocols are given, along with a discussion
 of each alternative.
 Finally, a overview of scalability, fault tolerance and availability is
 presented.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Design of the GGS system
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "sec:Design-of-the"

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The GGS is modelled after a real world system performing much of the same
 duties as GGS.
 This is common practice 
\begin_inset CommandInset citation
LatexCommand citep
key "armstrong2011"

\end_inset

 in the computer software world, in order to understand complex problems
 more easily.
 While there may not always be a real world example of a system performing
 th exact duties of the system being modelled in the computer, it is often
 easier to create and analyze requirements for real world systems and processes
 than systems existing soley in a computer.
 The requirements and limitations imposed on the real-world system can,
 using the proper tools, be transferred in to the software.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The real world system chosen for the GGS is a 
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset

Chess club
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset

 - a building where chess players can meet and play chess.
 Since a real-world scenario is readily available, and to such a large extent
 resembles the computer software required for the GGS, the next step in
 developing the GGS system is to duplicate this real world scenario in a
 software setting.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Some requirements, limitations and additions were made to the chess club
 system, so that the system would more easily and efficiently be replicated
 in a software setting.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In the text below, two examples will be presented.
 On example is that of a real-world chess club, in which players meet to
 play chess against each other, the other example is the GGS, and how it
 corresponds to this chess club.
 
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\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename graphics/theory_layout.eps
	scale 40

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
end{centering}
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Caption

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "fig:theory-layout"

\end_inset

The layout of a physical 
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset

Chess club
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset

 with two players (P) sitting by each chess table (Table), a coordinator
 keeps track of all moves and players in the building.
 A player has to pass by the entrance to enter or exit the building.
 The building is represented by the outermost box.
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\end_inset

In figure 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand vref
reference "fig:theory-layout"

\end_inset

 a graphical representation for the chess club is presented.
 The club is seen from above.
 The outermost box represents the building.
 In the GGS setting, the building would represent one instance of GGS.
 Several buildings linked together would represent a cluster of GGS instances.
 In order for a player (the P symbol in the graphic) to enter the theoretical
 chess club, the player must pass by the entrance.
 By having each player pass by the entrance, a tally
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Does this mean what I think it does? 
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset

Räkning
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset

 ?
\end_layout

\end_inset

 can be kept, ensuring that there are not too many players within the building.
 In the GGS setting, too many players entering would mean too many connections
 have been accepted to the GGS system, and that the structure of the system
 thus must be modified, adding additional servers.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Once a player has been allowed in to the chess club the player is greeted
 by the host of the chess club, in the GGS setting represented by the 
\emph on
Coordinator
\emph default
, and is seated by a table.
 The coordinator keeps track of all the players in the building, and all
 moved made by the players.
 The information available to the coordinator means that cheating can be
 monitored and book keeping can be performed by this entity.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Moves by players are made using the tables present in the chess club.
 Every game is isolated to a table, just as expected.
 This means that communication during a game only has to pass by the players
 of that particular game, and the coordinator, making sure that no cheating
 takes place.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
This isolation of the games plays an imporant part in many properties of
 the GGS, the isolation means that games can for example be transferred
 between different chess clubs, furthermore, if cheating takes place, corruption
 can only occur in the particular table where it was found, and can not
 spread.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Moving chess players from one location to another is one of the alterations
 made to the real world chess club system to make the system more appropriate
 for a software setting.
 Allowing games to be transferred is not a property usually desired in a
 real world chess club, where transferring players would mean moving the
 players from one building to another.
 In the software setting, moving players means moving the game processes
 from one system to another, perhaps to balance the system load.
 This transfer of players can occur transparently, without notifying the
 players.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The simplified life cycle of a game in GGS can be viewed using algorithm
 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand vref
reference "alg:game-lifecycle"

\end_inset

.
 In order to make this life cycle as efficient and useful as possible, the
 scalability, fault tolerant and generic traits are added to the GGS.
 These are not shown in the algorithm, as these traits are tools in making
 the algorithm behave as efficient as possible, and are not the main focus
 when studying the life cycle of a game.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The limits imposed in 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand vref
reference "alg:game-lifecycle"

\end_inset

 are arbitrary for this example, there are no limits in the GGS on the number
 of players connecting, for example.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset Float algorithm
wide false
sideways false
status collapsed

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
begin{algorithmic}[1]
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
newcommand{
\backslash
INDSTATE}[1][1]{
\backslash
STATE
\backslash
hspace{#1
\backslash
algorithmicindent}}
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
STATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset


\series bold
while
\series default
 
\begin_inset Formula $players<2$
\end_inset

:
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset


\series bold
if
\series default
 a player connects, call 
\emph on
connected
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
STATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset


\series bold
while 
\series default
the game commences:
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset

call the function 
\emph on
game
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
STATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset


\series bold
when
\series default
 the game has stopped
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset

call the function 
\emph on
endGame
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
STATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset


\series bold
function 
\series default
connected:
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset

assign the new player an id
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset

alert the coordinator of the new player
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset


\series bold
if
\series default
 a free table does not exist:
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE[2] 
\end_layout

\end_inset

the coordinator creates a new table 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset

the coordinator places the player by the table, and begins watching the
 player
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
STATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset


\series bold
function
\series default
 game
\series bold
:
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset

 perform game-specific functions.
 In chess, the rules of chess are placed here
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
STATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset


\series bold
function 
\series default
endGame:
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset

alert the coordinator, de-registering the players
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset

disconnect the players from the system, freeing system resources
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
end{algorithmic}
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Caption

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "alg:game-lifecycle"

\end_inset

A very simple example of the flow through the GGS system when a game played.
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Performance
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There are many ways in which performance could be measured.
 For the clients, time and response times are useful measurements in time
 critical settings.
 In non-time critical settings, the reliability of message delivery may
 be an even more important factor than speed.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In a first person shooter game, the speed of delivery of messages is essential.
 Failiure to deliver messages in time results in choppy gameplay for the
 players.
 In strategy games, the reliability of delivery may be more important than
 the speed, since the game is not percieved as choppy even if the messages
 are delayed.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
For someone operating a GGS, it is perhaps more interesting to measure the
 system load, memory consumption, energy consumption and network saturation.
 These topics are discussed in theory in this section.
 The practical results for the prototype are discussed in chapter 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand vref
reference "cha:Implementation-of-a"

\end_inset

.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
Performance measurements
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Tue apr 26, 9:15.
 Continue from here on.
 Discuss which results we may expect in a fully fledged GGS system.
 What impedes the speeds, what raises the CPU load (and therefore the temperetur
es & power consumption).
 What factors are there in the network saturation problem?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Which games are affected by what, and what does this mean for the number
 of players a GGS can handle?
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
How many players can we have on a server? Performance differences between
 games? e.g can one game have thousands players on a server and another only
 have hundreds? Questions
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In the current state game servers is coded for each game that needs it,
 in many cases this seems like a bad solution.
 Developers that want to make a network game need to understand network
 programming.
 A way to change this is a generic game server which give the game developers
 a server which they implement their game towards.
 This approach would not only make it easier to develop network games, it
 would also allow games in different programming languages to be implemented
 using the same server.
 to be discussed here.
 
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Create a game with several thousand players, see how our server scales,
 how can we improve the performance? Sharding isn’t very nice..
 alternatives? Improve the speed of sharding?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
See how the server scales
\end_layout

\begin_deeper
\begin_layout Itemize
When adding many clients
\end_layout

\begin_deeper
\begin_layout Itemize
Measure in 
\begin_inset Formula $ms$
\end_inset

 (ping to clients)
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
measure in system load
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
Measure in loss of messages
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
Measure in # of timeouts? (if any??)
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
Measure in time-to-crash
\end_layout

\end_deeper
\begin_layout Itemize
When adding new machines to the pool
\end_layout

\begin_deeper
\begin_layout Itemize
% increase of performance per machine
\end_layout

\end_deeper
\begin_layout Itemize
Single-core CPU vs multi-core CPU
\end_layout

\begin_deeper
\begin_layout Itemize
It's very important to scale well on multi-core systems, since this is where
 the industry is going.
 Multicore is the future.
\end_layout

\end_deeper
\end_deeper
\begin_layout Plain Layout
Find reference on how to benchmark distributed, multiprocess systems
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Choice of network protocol
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "sec:Choice-of-network"

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There are three main ways in which computer communication over the Internet
 usually takes place; TCP, UDP and HTTP.
 The first two are transport layer protocols, which are commonly used to
 transport application layer protocols, such as HTTP.
 TCP and UDP can not be used on their own, without an application layer
 protocol on top.
 Application layer protocols such as HTTP on the other hand needs a transport
 layer protocol in order to work.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
HTTP
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Since HTTP is so widely used on the Internet today in web servers, it is
 available on most Internet connected devices.
 This means that if HTTP is used in the GGS, firewalls will not pose problems,
 which is a great benefit.
 However, due to the intended usage of HTTP in web servers, the protocol
 was designed to be stateless and client-initiated.
 In order to maintain a state during a game session using HTTP, some sort
 of token would have to be passed between client and server at all times,
 much like how a web server works.
 These facts combined makes HTTP unsuitable for our purposes, since the
 GGS requires a state to be maintained throughout a session, and also needs
 to push data from the server to clients without the clients requesting
 data.
 It should also be mentioned that HTTP uses the TCP protocol for transport,
 and what is said about TCP also applies to HTTP.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
UDP
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Many online games use UDP as the carrier for their application layer protocol.
 UDP moves data across a network very quickly, however it does not ensure
 that the data transferred arrives in consistent manner.
 Data sent via UDP may be repeated, lost or out of order.
 To ensure the data transferred is in good shape, some sort of error checking
 mechanisms must be implemented.
 UDP is a good choice for applications where it is more important that data
 arrives in a timely manner than that all data arrives undamaged, it is
 thus very suitable for media streaming, for example.
 In the GGS reliability of transfer was chosen before the speed of the transfer,
 ruling out UDP as the transport later protocol.
 
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Perhaps we should only say that we chose TCP just for our GGS prototype
 and why.
 If we leave it like that it seems that we think it is not suitable.
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
TCP
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
For reliable transfers, TCP is often used on the Internet.
 Built in to the protocol are the error checking and correction mechanisms
 missing in UDP.
 This ensures the consistency of data, but also makes the transfer slower
 than if UDP had been used.
 In the GGS, data consistency is more important than transfer speeds, and
 thus TCP is a better alternative than UDP.
 
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Same here it is simply not true for a generic server to chose one or the
 other.
 We should rephrase it so it is clear that we only state it about the GGS
 prototype.
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Generic
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "sec:Generic"

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Bad name of the chapter, but here we should give the theory of how the server
 is generic
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Fault Tolerance
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "sec:Fault-Tolerance"

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Fault tolerance is an important factor in all servers, a server that is
 fault tolerant should be able to follow a given specification when parts
 of the system failures.
 This means that fault tolerance is different in each system depending on
 what specification they have.
 A system could be fault tolerant in different aspects, one is where the
 system is guaranteed to be available but not safe and it could also be
 reversed, that the system is safe but not guaranteed to be available.
 Depending on the system one property may be more important(some example
 here).
 A system could also have non existent fault tolerance or it could be both
 safe and guaranteed to be available.
 It should be noted that it is not possible to achieve complete fault tolerance,
 a system will always have a certain risk of failure.
 With this in mind the goal is to make the GGS prototype as fault tolerant
 as possible.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In order to make the GGS prototype fault tolerant the programming language
 Erlang has been used.
 Erlang will not guarantee a fault tolerant system but it has features that
 support and encourage the development of fault tolerant systems.
 In the GGS it is important that the system overall is fault tolerant.
 Crashes of the whole system should be avoided as this would make the system
 unusable for a time.
 By using supervisor structures it is possible to crash and restart small
 parts of the system, this is convenient as fault can be handled within
 small modules thus never forcing a crash of the system.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The need for fault tolerance in game servers is not as obvious as it may
 be for other typ of servers.
 In general all servers strive to be fault tolerant as fault tolerance means
 more uptime and a safer system.
 This applies to game servers aswell, in brief good fault tolerance is a
 way of satisfying customers.
 In general, game servers differ from many other fault tolerant systems
 in that high-availability is more important than the safety of the system.
 For example a simple calculation error will not be critical for a game
 server but it may be in a life-critical system and then it is better that
 the system crashes than works with the faulty data.
 There are cases where safety may be critical in game servers, one example
 is in games where in-game money exist.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsubsection
Performance penalties
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Availability
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "sec:Availability"

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
One important factor of any server is the availability.
 A server to which you are unable to connect to is a useless server.
 Other then within telecomunication, their uptime is of about 99,9999999%,
 the game developer community hasn't approched this problem very genuinely
 yet so there is much room for improvement.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There are several good papers on how to migrate whole virtual machines between
 nodes to replicate them
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Add more information about that
\end_layout

\end_inset

 but for the GGS a different approach has been chosen.
 Instead of just duplicating a virtual machine, the programming language
 Erlang has been used which offers several features to increase the availability.
 Some of them are 
\emph on
hot code replacement
\emph default
, where code can be updated while the application is running and without
 the need to restart it, the 
\emph on
supervisor structure
\emph default
 provided by 
\emph on
OTP
\emph default
 and the inter node and process communication via 
\emph on
messages
\emph default
 instead of shared memory.
 We will discuss each of them later on.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Scalability
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "sec:Scalability"

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Each instance of the GGS contains several tables.
 Each table is an isolated instance of a game, for example a chess game
 or a poker game.
 The way that the GGS scales is to distribute these tables on different
 servers.
 In many games it is not necessary for a player to move between tables during
 games.
 This is for example not a common occurrence in chess, where it would be
 represented as a player standing up from her current table and sitting
 down at a new table, all within the same game session.
 With this in mind, the main focus of the GGS is not to move players between
 tables, but to keep a player in a table, and to start new tables instead.
 When a server has reached a certain amount of players the performance will
 start to decrease.
 To avoid this the GGS will start new tables on another server, using this
 technique the players will be close to evenly distributed between the servers.
 It is important to investigate and find out how many players that are optimal
 for each server.
 This approach makes it possible to utilize all resources with moderate
 load, instead of having some resources with heavy load and some with almost
 no load.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
As mentioned in the purpose section there are two different types of scalability
, structural scalability and load scalability.
 To make the GGS scalable both types of scalability are needed.
 Structural scalability means in our case that it should be possible to
 add more servers to an existing cluster of servers.
 By adding more servers the limits of how many users a system can have is
 increased.
 Load scalability in contrast to structural scalability is not about how
 to increase the actual limits of the system.
 Instead it means how good the system handles increased load.
 The GGS should be able to scale well in both categories.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
Load balancing
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The need for load balancing varies between different kind of systems.
 Small systems that only use one or a couple of servers can cope with a
 simple implementation of it, while in large systems it is critical to have
 extensive and well working load balancing.
 The need also depends on what kind of server structure that the system
 works on.
 A static structure where the number of servers are predefined or a dynamic
 structure where the number varies.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Load balancing and scaling is difficult in different scenarios.
 When running in a separate server park, there are a set number of servers
 available, this means that an even distribution on all servers is preferable.
 When running the GGS in a cloud, such as Amazon EC2, it is possible to
 add an almost infinite number of servers as execution goes on.
 In this cloud setting, it may be more important to evenly distribute load
 on newly added servers.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Two methods of balancing load (increasing structure):
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
Fill up the capacity of one server completely, and then move over to the
 next server 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
Evenly distribute all clients to all servers from the beginning, when load
 becomes too high on all of them, then comes a new problem: 
\end_layout

\begin_deeper
\begin_layout Itemize
How do we distribute load on these new servers?
\end_layout

\end_deeper
\begin_layout Standard
Load balancing is a key component to achieve scalability in network systems.
 The GGS is a good example of a system that needs to be scalable, to attain
 this load balancing is necessary.
 Optimization of the load balancing for a system is an important task to
 provide a stable and fast load balancer.
 There are certain persistence problems that can occur with load balancing,
 if a player moves from a server to another data loss may occur.
 This is an important aspect to consider when the load balancer is designed
 and implemented.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Because P2P game architectures are a constant goal for cheaters and because
 “Cheating is a major concern in network games as it degrades the experience
 of the majority of players who are honest” and preventing cheating in P2P
 game architectures is very difficult game developers try to use Client
 - Server architectures which have a natural problem to scale.
 In this paper we want to show some strategies to achieve scalability.
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
UUID
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset Float algorithm
wide false
sideways false
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
begin{algorithmic}[1]
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
newcommand{
\backslash
INDSTATE}[1][1]{
\backslash
STATE
\backslash
hspace{#1
\backslash
algorithmicindent}}
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
STATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset

global variable 
\begin_inset Formula $state:=0$
\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
STATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset


\series bold
function 
\series default
unique
\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset


\begin_inset Formula $state:=state+1$
\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
INDSTATE 
\end_layout

\end_inset


\series bold
return 
\begin_inset Formula $state$
\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
end{algorithmic}
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Caption

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "alg:A-simple-generator"

\end_inset

A simple (insufficient) generator for identifiers
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Inside the GGS, everything has a unique identifier.
 There are identifiers for players, tables and other resources.
 When players communicate amongst each other, or communicate with tables,
 they need to be able to uniquely identify all of these resources.
 Within one machine, this is mostly not a problem.
 A simple system with a counter can be imagined, where each request for
 a new ID increments the previous identifier and returns the new identifier
 based off the old one, see algorithm 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand ref
reference "alg:A-simple-generator"

\end_inset

.
 This solution poses problems when dealing with concurrent and distributed
 systems.
 In concurrent systems, the simple solution in algorithm 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand ref
reference "alg:A-simple-generator"

\end_inset

 may yield non-unique identifiers due to the lack of mutual exclusion.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The obvious solution to this problem is to ensure mutual exclusion by using
 some sort of lock, which may work well in many concurrent systems.
 In a distributed system, this lock, along with the state, would have to
 be distributed.
 If the lock is not distributed, no guarantee can be made that two nodes
 in the distributed system do not generate the same number.
 A different approach is to give each node the ability to generate Universally
 Unique Identifiers (UUID), where the state of one machine does not interfere
 with the state of another.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
According to 
\begin_inset CommandInset citation
LatexCommand citet
key "Leach98uuidsand"

\end_inset

, 
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset

A UUID is 128 bits long, and if generated according to the one of the mechanisms
 in this document, is either guaranteed to be different from all other UUIDs/GUI
Ds generated until 3400 A.D.
 or extremely likely to be different
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset

.
 This is accomplished by gathering several different sources of information,
 such as: time, MAC addresses of network cards, and operating system data,
 such as percentage of memory in use, mouse cursor position and process
 ID:s.
 The gathered data is then 
\emph on
hashed
\emph default

\begin_inset space ~
\end_inset

using an algorithm such as SHA-1.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
When using system wide unique identifiers, such as the ones generated by
 algorithm 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand ref
reference "alg:A-simple-generator"

\end_inset

 with mutual exclusion, it is not possible to have identifier collisions
 when recovering from network splits between the GGS clusters.
 Consider figure 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand ref
reference "fig:network-split"

\end_inset

, where 
\emph on
Site A
\emph default
 is separated from 
\emph on
Site B
\emph default
 by a faulty network (illustrated by the cloud and lightening bolt).
 When 
\emph on
Site A
\emph default
 and 
\emph on
Site B
\emph default
 later re-establish communications, they may have generated the same ID:s
 if using algorithm 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand ref
reference "alg:A-simple-generator"

\end_inset

, even when mutual system-wide exclusion is implemented.
 This is exactly the problem UUID:s solve.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset Float figure
wide false
sideways false
status collapsed

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
begin{centering}
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename graphics/NetworkSPlit.eps
	scale 40

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
end{centering}
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Add clients on each side, and replace the cloud with phole-landlines being
 cut by a pair of scissors
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Caption

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "fig:network-split"

\end_inset

An example of a network split
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Security 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
We only support languages running in a sandboxed environment.
 Each game session is started in its own sandbox.
 The sandboxing isolates the games in such a way that they can not interfere
 with each other.
 If sandboxing was not in place, one game could potentially modify the contents
 of a different game.
 A similar approach is taken with the persistent storage we provide.
 In the storage each game has its own namespace, much like a table in a
 relational database.
 A game is not allowed to venture outside this namespace, and can because
 of this not modify the persistent data of other games.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
Encryption
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Game Development Language in a Virtual Machine
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There is only a very limited number of game developers who would like to
 write their games in Erlang, therefore we had to come up with something
 to resolve this problem.
 The main idea was to offer a replacable module which would introduce a
 interface to different virtual machines which would run the game code.
 This way a game developer can write the game in his favourite language
 while the server part still is written in Erlang and can benefit from all
 of its advantages.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
JavaScript
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
JavaScript has gained a lot of popularity lately, it is used in large projects
 such as 
\emph on
Riak
\emph default

\begin_inset Foot
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Flex URL
status collapsed

\begin_layout Plain Layout

http://wiki.basho.com/An-Introduction-to-Riak.html
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\end_inset

, 
\emph on
CouchDB
\emph default

\begin_inset Foot
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Flex URL
status collapsed

\begin_layout Plain Layout

http://couchdb.apache.org
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\end_inset

.
 On the popular social coding site 
\emph on
GitHub.com
\emph default
, 18%
\begin_inset Foot
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
during the writing of the thesis the percentage went up to 19% 
\begin_inset Flex URL
status collapsed

\begin_layout Plain Layout

https://github.com/languages/
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\end_inset

 of all code is written in JavaScript.
 The popularity of JavaScript in the programming community, in combination
 with the availability of several different JavaScript virtual machines
 was an important influence in choosing JavaScript as the main control language
 for our GGS prototype.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
Other languages
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Other languages like 
\emph on
lua
\emph default
, 
\emph on
ActionScript
\emph default
 are suitable as well because there is a virtual machine for each of them
 which can be 
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset

plugged in
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset

 into our GDL VM interface.
 With help of the 
\emph on
Java Virtual Machine
\emph default
 or the 
\emph on
.NET 
\emph default
environment it is even possible to run nearly every available programming
 language in a sandbox as a GDL.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Due lack of time we have decided to use just the Erlang <-> JavaScript bridge
 with our interface.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Testing
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
NOTE: This is not a part of the final text.
 There has been some work on the area of testing game servers, see 
\begin_inset CommandInset citation
LatexCommand citet
key "Lidholt02designand"

\end_inset

, who describes a test bench using 
\emph on
bots
\emph default
 for testing his generic hazard-gaming server.
 Lidholt describes how his server, capable of running several different
 casino games is tested using artificial players, so called bots.
 Performance is measured in 
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset

number of clients
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset

 able to connect to the server, and the system load.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Chapter
Implementation of a prototype
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "cha:Implementation-of-a"

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
This chapter contains the realization of much of the principles and techniques
 described in chapter 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand vref
reference "cha:Theory"

\end_inset

.
 Here the problems and their solutions are discussed in greater detail,
 and at times the text becomes more specific to GGS.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Much of what is discussed in this chapter has been implemented in the Erlang
 GGS prototype.
 Specific solutions such as 
\emph on
supervisor structures 
\emph default
and distribution of erlang nodes on physical nodes.
 The different means of communications within the GGS and outside the GGS
 with third parties are also discussed here.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Overview of the prototype
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The prototype of the GGS was developed using the Erlang language.
 The functional and concurrent style of Erlang facilitates devlopment of
 software based on a real-world model 
\begin_inset CommandInset citation
LatexCommand citep
key "armstrong2011"

\end_inset

.
 In Erlang, most things are processes.
 The software running the Erlang code is known as the Erlang machine, or
 an Erlang node.
 Each Erlang node is capable of running several 
\emph on
threads 
\emph default
(also known as 
\emph on
Light Weight Processes; LWP
\emph default
)
\emph on
, 
\emph default
much like the threads in an operating system.
 Threads in a Linux system, for example, are treated much like operating
 system processes in different systems.
 Due to the size of datastructures related to each process, swapping one
 process for another (known as 
\emph on
context switching
\emph default
) is an expensive task in many systems.
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Citation needed, perhaps the book for the 
\emph on
Unix Internals
\emph default
 course?
\end_layout

\end_inset

 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The cost of swapping operating system processes becomes a problem when many
 processes are involved.
 If the GGS system had been developed using regular operating system processes,
 it would have had to be designed in a way to minimize the number of processes.
 Using Erlang, which is capable of running very many processes, several
 times more than an operating system can, the mapping between the real world
 system (described in 
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand vref
reference "sec:Design-of-the"

\end_inset

) becomes clearer.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Erlang allows the GGS to create several process for each player connecting,
 these processes can handle a multitude of different tasks, parsing data
 for example.
 Since each task is handled by a different process, the tasks are clearly
 separated and the failiure of one is easily recovered without affecting
 the others.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In addition to creating (or 
\emph on
spawning
\emph default
) processes specifically to handle new players connecting, the GGS has more
 permanent processes running at all times.
 The constantly running processes in the GGS system are called 
\emph on
modules
\emph default
.
 An example of a module in the GGS is the 
\emph on
dispatcher module
\emph default
, which handles the initial connection made by a client, passing the connection
 along further in to the system.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset Float figure
wide false
sideways false
status collapsed

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
begin{centering}
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename graphics/Chess_no_text.eps
	width 100text%

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
end{centering}
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Caption

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "fig:The-layout-of"

\end_inset

The layout of the GGS.
 The circles marked with 'C' topmost in the picture represent clients.
 The cloud marked 'network' pictured directly below the clients can be any
 network, for example the Internet.
 The barell figure marked 'backup' is a process being fed backup data from
 the coordinator.
 The barell marked 'State' contains the state of a table, and this is fed
 into the box marked 'Mnesia' which is database.
 Finally the figure shaped as a shield marked 'GameVM' contains the actual
 game process.
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In figure
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand vref
reference "fig:The-layout-of"

\end_inset

 the entire GGS system is represented graphically.
 The circles marked with 'C' topmost in the picture represent game clients.
 These circles represent processes running on gamers' computers, and not
 on the GGS machine.
 If a game of chess is to be played on the server, the clients on the gamers'
 machines will be chess game clients.
 Clients connect through a network, pictured as a cloud, to the dispatcher
 process in the GGS.
 The dispatcher process and all other modules are discussed in
\begin_inset CommandInset ref
LatexCommand vref
reference "sec:The-modular-structure"

\end_inset

.
 For each connection, a new player process is spawned, which immediately
 after spawning is integrated in to the GGS by the coordinator process.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
The modular structure of the GGS prototype
\begin_inset CommandInset label
LatexCommand label
name "sec:The-modular-structure"

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
The dispatcher module
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
The player module
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
The protocol parser module
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
The coordinator module
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
The table module
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
The game virtual machine module
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
The database module
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Techniques for ensuring reliability 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
One of the main goals of the project is to achieve high reliability.
 A highly reliable application is one that crashes very, very rarely 
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
CITATION NEEDED
\end_layout

\end_inset

.
 There are some tools for creating reliable applications built in to Erlang.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
Links between processes.
 When a process spawns a new child process, and the child process later
 exits, the parent process is notified of the exit.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
Transparent distribution over a network of processors.
 When several nodes participate in a network, it does not matter on which
 of these machines a process is run.
 Communication between processes does not depend on the node in which each
 process is run.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Itemize
Hot code replacements.
 Two versions of the same module can reside in the memory of Erlang at any
 time.
 This means that a simple swap between these versions can take place very
 quickly, and without stopping the machine.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
These three features are some of the basic building blocks for more sophisticate
d reliability systems in Erlang.
 Many times it is not necessary to use these features directly, but rather
 through the design patterns described below.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
Supervisor structure 
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
This entire section is bad.
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
By linking processes together and notifying parents when children exit,
 we can create supervisors.
 A supervisor is a common approach in ensuring that an application functions
 in the way it was intended.
 When a process misbehaves, the supervisor takes some action to restore
 the process to a functional state.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There are several approaches to supervisor design in general (when not just
 considering how they work in Erlang).
 One common approach is to have the supervisor look in to the state of the
 process(es) it supervises, and let the supervisor make decisions based
 on this state.
 The supervisor has a specification of how the process it supervises should
 function, and this is how it makes decisions.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In Erlang, we have a simple version of supervisors.
 We do not inspect the state of the processes being supervised.
 We do have a specification of how the supervised processes should behave,
 but on a higher level.
 The specification describes things such as how many times in a given time
 interval a child process may crash, which processes need restarting when
 crashes occur, and so forth.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
When the linking of processes in order to monitor exit behaviour is coupled
 with the transparent distribution of Erlang, a very powerful supervision
 system is created.
 For instance, we can restart a failing process on a different, new node,
 with minimal impact on the system as a whole.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In the GGS, we have separated the system in to two large supervised parts.
 We try to restart a crashing child separately, if this fails too many
\begin_inset Foot
status collapsed

\begin_layout Plain Layout
Exactly how many 
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset

too many
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset

 is depends on a setting in the supervisor, ten crashes per second is a
 reasonable upper limit.
\end_layout

\end_inset

 times, we restart the nearest supervisor of this child.
 This ensures separation of the subsystems so that a crash is as isolated
 as possible.
\begin_inset Float figure
wide false
sideways false
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Note Note
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout
We should really do this graphic in EPS instead of PNG
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
begin{centering}
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename graphics/Supervisor_tree_GGS.eps
	scale 40

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout


\backslash
end{centering}
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Plain Layout
\begin_inset Caption

\begin_layout Plain Layout
The supervisor structure of GGS
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The graphic above shows our two subsystems, the coordinator subsystem and
 the dispatcher subsystem.
 Since these two systems perform very different tasks they have been separated.
 Each subsystem has one worker process, the coordinator or the dispatcher.
 The worker process keeps a state which should not be lost upon a crash.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
We have chosen to let faulty processes crash very easily when they receive
 bad data, or something unexpected happens.
 The alternative to crashing would have been to try and fix this faulty
 data, or to foresee the unexpected events.
 We chose not to do this because it is so simple to monitor and restart
 processes, and so difficult to try and mend broken states.
 This approach is something widely deployed in the Erlang world, and developers
 are often encouraged to “Let it crash”.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
To prevent any data loss, the good state of the worker processes is stored
 in their respective backup processes.
 When a worker process (re)starts, it asks the backup process for any previous
 state, if there is any that state is loaded in to the worker and it proceeds
 where it left off.
 If on the other hand no state is available, a special message is delivered
 instead, making the worker create a new state, this is what happens when
 the workers are first created.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
Distribution
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
Hot code replacement
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Implementation
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsubsection
User interface 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Chapter
Problems of implementation 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
erlang_js
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
To be able to run JavaScript on our server we needed to embed a JavaScript
 engine within the server.
 After a thorough investigation erlang_js became our choice.
 Erlang_js provides direct communication with a JavaScript VM (Virtual Machine).
 This was exactly what we wanted, but we also needed the possibility to
 communicate from erlang_js to Erlang.
 This functionality was not yet implemented in erlang_js, due to lack of
 time.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There were two possible solutions to the problem.
 We could rewrite some part of erlang_js, or we could switch erlang_js for
 some other JavaScript engine.
 Searching for other engines we found erlv8 and beam.js which provided the
 functionality that we wanted.
 As we tested beam.js it occurred random crashes of the whole Erlang environment.
 These crashes were related to the use of erlv8 in beam.js and we decided
 that the use of erlv8 was not an alternative due to the stability issues.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
To get the functionality needed we decided to implement this in erlang_js.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Subsection
UUID 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Erlang identifies processes uniquely throughout the entire Erlang network
 using process IDs (PID).
 When we wish to refer to erlang processes from outside our erlang system,
 for example in a virtual machine for a different language, possibly on
 a different machine, these PID:s are no longer useful.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
This problem is not new, and a common solution is to use a Universally Unique
 Identifier, a UUID.
 These identifiers are generated both using randomization and using time.
 A reasonably large number of UUID:s can be generated before a collision
 should occur.
 There are standard tools in many UNIX systems to generate UUID:s, we chose
 to use the uuidgen command, which employs an equidistributed combined Tausworth
e generator.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Design choices 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
When designing concurrent applications, it is useful to picture them as
 real world scenarios, and to model each actor as a real world process.
 A real world process is a process which performs some action in the real
 world, such as a mailbox receiving a letter, a door being opened, a person
 translating a text, a soccer player kicking the ball, just to name a few
 examples.
 Since we focus on games in this project, it is suitable to model our system
 as a place where games take place.
 We imagined a chess club.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The clients pictured as green circles can be thought of as the physical
 chess players.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
When a player wants to enter the our particular chess club, he must first
 be let in by the doorman, called the 
\emph on
Dispatcher
\emph default
 in the GGS.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
He then gets a name badge, and thus becomes a 
\emph on
Player
\emph default
 process in the system.
 He is also guided in to the lobby by the 
\emph on
Coordinator
\emph default
, which has the role of the host of the chess club.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
When players wish to play against each other, they talk to the 
\emph on
Coordinator
\emph default
 who pairs them up, and places them at a table.
 Once they have sat down at the table, they no longer need the assistance
 of the 
\emph on
Coordinator
\emph default
, all further communication takes place via the table.
 This can be thought of as the actual chess game commencing.
 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
All the moves made in the game are recorded by the table, such that the
 table can restore the game in case something would happen, such as the
 table tipping over, which would represent the table process crashing.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Once a player wishes to leave a game, or the entire facility, he should
 contact the 
\emph on
Coordinator
\emph default
, who revokes his name badge and the 
\emph on
Dispatcher
\emph default
 will let the player out.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
With the information kept in the tables and the 
\emph on
Coordinator
\emph default
 combined, we can rebuild the entire state of the server at a different
 location.
 This can be thought of the chess club catching fire, and the 
\emph on
Coordinator
\emph default
 rounding up all the tables, running to a new location and building the
 club up in the exact state it was prior to the fire.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Understanding OTP 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Usability
\end_layout

\begin_layout Chapter
Results and discussion 
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Software development methodology
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The project has not followed any specific software development methodology.
 All work has been based on a predefined schedule and the specifications
 are made by team members rather than an outside customer or stakeholder.
 The process can be described as a plan-driven development method going
 from brainstorming to design, then implementation and finally testing.
 Yet there have been cycles in the process such as redesign and code refactoring.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Section
Statistics
\end_layout

\begin_layout Chapter
Conclusion
\end_layout

\begin_layout Chapter*
Glossary
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Here we could add some important words and their definitions..
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
\begin_inset CommandInset bibtex
LatexCommand bibtex
bibfiles "bibliography"
options "plainnat"

\end_inset


\end_layout

\end_body
\end_document