Connect to Server

To connect to an individual server, you’ll need to set the network configuration parameters and the connection configuration parameters. The network configurations control - where and how messages are sent and the connection parameters - determine how long the client will wait for communication from the server.

How it works

The following steps describe what happens when the client attempts to connect to the server for the first time.

1. The client creates a session. This, in turn, creates a new load balancer, which stores the NAE_IP, NAE_Port, KMIP_Port, Protocol parameters and the connection timeout and interval values. If persistent connections are enabled, the load balancer also creates a connection pool.

If persistent connections are not enabled, the load balancer will not create a connection pool. Connection pools allow the client to reuse existing connections if it needs them after receiving the server response. We recommend enabling persistent connections, because the performance cost of maintaining a connection pool is less than the cost of opening a new connection for each request.

1. The client requests a connection from the load balancer. Since this is the first connection request, the load balancer creates a connection. When the client makes future requests, the load balancer will search the connection pool for existing connections before creating a new one.

2. The client will wait till the duration of the Connection_Timeout for a server response. If the server does not respond within the timeout period, or refuses the connection, the connection fails and the client ignores the server for the duration of the Connection_Retry_Interval. If the server responds in time, the connection is successful.

3. The client obtains the connection.

4. The client uses the connection to send a cryptographic request to the server.

5. The server sends the response.

6. The client receives the response. The load balancer keeps the connection in the pool, if persistent connections are enabled. Otherwise, it closes the connection.

7. The client requests another connection. If persistent connections are enabled, the load balancer searches the connection pool for an existing connection.

Related parameters

The connection to an individual server uses the following parameters in the properties file:

• NAE_IP

• NAE_Port

• KMIP_Port

• Protocol

• Connection_Timeout

• Connection_Retry_Interval

• Ignore_DNS_Resolution_Failure

For more information about these parameters, refer to Connection Parameters.