Presence and IntComm WG

[Tim Callahan <>]

There's an effort afoot to encourage Apple to adapt Bonjour for enterprise networks. Educause's Wireless Lan group has put together a petition for Apple.  It's now newsworthy: http://www.networkcomputing.com/wireless/240003500

The growing campus demand for Airplay and Apple TV are part of what's bringing this to a head.  Issues are particularly prominent on wireless networks due Multicast (doesn't play well with most wireless) and users wanting Bonjour across subnets (including wired to wireless).   Also see https://www.facebook.com/groups/enterpriseairplay for more, or to join. Browse the Listserv thread for more technical details and background info here.

Given Bonjour's roots in XMPP/ XEP-0174: Serverless Messaging, I'm curious about our group's perspective.  Does anyone have solutions?  Are there Bonjour protocol experts who can help define a solution?  Are there "gateway" protocols or solutions for XMPP and/or Multicast DNS that can be adapted to solve Bonjour in the Enterprise?  Since Bonjour uses XEP-0174 as a "workaround" for using servers, in theory, it seems like we could come up with a "workaround for their workaround" to get back to (XMPP) server based messaging (could solve the subnet issue and more).  I'm just reaching for ideas, but perhaps the experts in our group can share more concrete ideas.   Bring any solution to the table - hardware, software, protocol, commercial service, etc.

Ideally, Apple will provide a solution.  Until that happens, a solution is needed - this could be a PIC project/collaboration.  If there's interest, I can find whatever support we need.   In the meantime, share your thoughts and/or feel free to join the discussion in the Educause Listserv.

-Tim

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Tim Callahan
University of Michigan, ITS
Spectrum Manager and Lead Wireless Engineer 
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