First Hop
Client Protocols
- Simple Polling: Default unless low latency is required; stateless HTTP, delayed by the polling interval.
- Long Polling: Held HTTP request gives near real-time for infrequent updates, but bursts add callback latency.
- Server-Sent Events (SSE): One-way HTTP stream; efficient for server push when clients rarely write back.
- WebSockets: Full-duplex persistent channel for high-frequency reads and writes; adds stateful infra.
- WebRTC: Peer-to-peer for audio/video or server-load reduction; requires signaling, STUN, and TURN.