Thinktecture RelayServer

Thinktecture RelayServer enables secure communication from clients - including mobile devices, web, and native applications - to their on-premises backend applications.

The client can be any kind of application which uses REST-style HTTPS requests to exchange data with on-premises applications. You can use RelayServer to provide backend communication for your HTML5 apps and for native apps on Windows, iOS, Android, Blackberry, Smart TVs, and many more. There is no special library or code change needed as RelayServer acts as a transparent HTTPS reverse proxy.

The on-premises applications can be located behind routers and firewalls and only need a single outgoing port to be able to handle clients' requests. They will use this port to establish a persistent connection with your internet-accessible RelayServer instance. This connection will be managed by an embeddable component (or windows service) called RelayServer Connector. If your on-premises application uses some kind of Web-based API to communicate with the client you are ready to go.

All data communication will be secured via https with complete control and auditing of allowed participants and permitted data.

Library concept

Thinktecture RelayServer v3 is more of a collection of libraries than a few ready-to run executables. We looked at how RelayServer v2 was used previously and learned that in most cases a lot of customization and extension was performed. This is now much easier to achieve in RelayServer v3, by providing all components and modules in an exchangeable way for you to build your own product and services with RelayServer as a library.

Contents of the documentation

See the glossary for a further description of terms used in the context of RelayServer.
See concepts for an explanation of concepts used in RelayServer.
See getting started with development for an overview of how to setup a development environment for RelayServer.
See deployment options for an overview of deployment options.
See modules for an overview of the new modular design of RelayServer 3 and modules supported out of the box.
See migration for some ideas how to migrate from RelayServer 2 to version 3.
See configuration for some guidance on how to configure the RelayServer 3 components.
See release notes for the latest release notes on RelayServer 3.

Features

Open Source under BSD-3-Clause license
Full data sovereignty without the need to tunnel data over public relays operated by third parties
No special client-side library needed - it's technically only an distributed HTTPS reverse proxy
Supports multiple tenants with provisioning - you would usually connect thousands of on-premises installation via one RelayServer instance
Firewall, NAT & Proxy-friendly
No static ip address needed for on-premise applications
No hardware for on-premises side needed
No open incoming firewall ports
No VPN setup