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I two systems that I need to connect, but both act as servers. The first is a scale controller that does not have the ability to open a connection before sending a weight. It will send weights if a client connects to it first.

The other end is a server that waits for TCP data to print labels. Again if I send the data the server has I can print labels. But it also does not have a way to initiate a connection.

I'm gong to write a Windows service that will act as a wedge to open a connection to the scale and open a connection to the label software and pass any data from the scale to the label software.

Before I do is there an existing TEE or Server2Server gender adapter utility that is already available? I've looked but surprisingly this doesn't seem to be a common request.

MadHatter
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Rich Shealer
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  • I doubt it exists, but you could script it in PowerShell very quickly... – Chris S Aug 19 '13 at 20:30
  • Your requirement appears to match our Cascades product well. I'd like to explore interviewing you to confirm some ideas on product extensions. Can you contact me by mail if you are interested? – Pekka Nov 27 '13 at 19:58

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You could look at revinetd for a connect-connect tcp stream redirector. You don't specify the platform, but the software is available ported to both Windows and Linux.

You do need to be careful by introducing yet another possible point of failure into your landscape. It could make troubleshooting more complex.

Also, the tool is intended as a pure network pipe fitting. If you need to transform the data in any way, you will be best served with a custom application to provide you with the required control.

Pekka
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  • Running 2 instances of netcat back2back could probably do the trick too. I'm fairly sure there is a Windows build of it already. (And if not there is always Cygwin.) – Tonny Nov 21 '13 at 22:12
  • @Pekka The question is tagged for Windows. revinetd is source for Unix type machines. It may be a base to explore to convert to Windows, but I didn't see Windows binaries. – Rich Shealer Nov 21 '13 at 22:53
  • @Tonny I found a Windows version of NetCat. It looks like it may work for me because I really only need one way communication. I don't see a way to do bidirectional which would be ideal. – Rich Shealer Nov 21 '13 at 22:54
  • @Tonny - Net Cat was not robust enough. If the sending side disconnects there is no way to detect it to restart the link. – Rich Shealer Nov 22 '13 at 18:12
  • @RichShealer That would be a problem... I agree. I've been in your position about 10 years ago. (Scale to line-printer in my case.) We ended up with a commercial piece of software. It was pricey (about $2000 per PC if I recall correctly and we needed 10) but well worth the price considering that, after initial setup, it worked reliably for several years. I can't recall the name. It was recommended to us by the scale vendor (Precia-Molen). – Tonny Nov 22 '13 at 19:33