Functionality

The following article describes how the Untìl Uru Locator communicates with your shard server. During the development process, several procedures were discussed and discarded again. The system that was finally chosen guarantees a maximum of security for the data base on your server, the handling of the server and the protection of privacy of the players, and it minimizes the additional traffic.

In periodic intervals, the Untìl Uru Locator fetches the list of all online players on your shard. He does not read out the database of the Untìl Uru shard server, but uses a special interface in the HTTP area (web) of your server. This procedure ensures that the software does not come in direct contact with the operation of the Untìl Uru Server. Otherwise, the UU locator would need usernames and passwords at least for part of the database, which would be a potential security risk concerning the abuse of the data. This is not the case. The interface itself - which is further described in the following chapter - compiles a standardized file at the prompt of the Untìl Uru Locator. This file contains only the required information of the players’ names, their KI numbers and the currently visited ages, the file is sent to the Locator via internet. Therefore, no private data is transmitted to the Untìl Uru Locator and its user. Reading (and spying) out further data is not possible.

Without your assistance, the Untìl Uru Locator cannot access the data mentioned above, because it needs the special interface. If you do not install the interface, there is no worry that the Locator will by any means try to access data on your shard or even prompt to do so. Only after you have installed the interface correctly on your server and have informed me via the registration form, the users of the Locator can add your shard to the list of shards to be monitored.

Even then, you maintain full control of your shard server. The access to your Untìl Uru data base remains in your hands, because the identification values will only be entered in the interface itself, which is implemented on your server. In case of emergency, you can simply remove the interface and the Locator will immediately cease to receive data from your server. In general, you should use the normal unregistration procedure via the form provided.

Additionally to safety and privacy issues, the traffic is of interest for you. The software was designed to keep traffic at a minimum by several ideas. Examples:

• The data format for the transmission to the Untìl Uru Locator was built in a way that the data is well compressed. Generally, one such file consists only of a few hundred bytes. Often, data files are transmitted containing far less than hundred bytes.
• When no players are online, the Locator switches to the so called sleep mode for that specific shard. In that case, the shard is only prompted for data every five minutes. Only when a player is detected online again, the Locator switches back to his regular prompting mode.