TCP connection and firewalls

Question

On the Internet, if you need fast, secure server-to-server communication, and you can specify which firewall ports are open, NetTcpBinding can prove very valuable.

a) Is text implying that with some other connection protocols, such as HTTP, we don't need to check for open firewall ports?

b) Why would NetTcpBinding only be useful for server-to-server communications, but not for client-to-server communications?

thank you

Answer 1

a) When you deploy to an enterprise, you usually don't have control over their external firewall. The setup of their firewall is made by network administrators following an enterprise wide policy. External firewalls almost always allow outgoing HTTP requests (otherwise you couldn't browse the web). Some corporate firewalls block outgoing TCP requests, which means you cannot use netTcpBinding. As an example, see this question for somebody trying to deal with that issue. If you KNOW that the firewall of every one of your customers will allow outgoing TCP, then NetTcpBinding is an appropriate choice.

b) Who says NetTcpBinding is only useful for server-to-server communications? You can deploy a client-server application into an enterprise, and providing the clients and the servers are all within the intranet, then NetTcpBinding is an appropriate choice of binding.