implementing asp.net mvc chat full duplex

Question

I want to create a Facebook/Gmail like chat me for my social network.

I'm looking for the best technique to achieve it. I found several libraries, but I do not know what the most appropriate

The prerequisites are:

• framework c#
• low bandwidth consumption
• chat integrated into the site, if the user changes page, the connection should stay alive
• Free library (not paid)
• shared hosting, can not install nothing on web server
• if possible take advantage webSocket for browsers that support it and fall back to flash or similar automatically if not supported
• one to one chat
• If possible I would avoid Silverlight (with full duplex wcf) and use HTML / jquery chat
• compatible with all browsers

I found the following libraries, but many do not provide a c# implementation or need to install a COMET web server or need to install components on web server

• http://pokein.com/
• http://www.ape-project.org/ajax-push.html
• http://code.google.com/p/jwebsocket/
• http://www.igniterealtime.org/projects/openfire/
• http://socket.io/

I believe that use a technique such as Reverse Ajax consume a lot of bandwidth, right? What is the best,free,documented and c# implemented libray with low consume of bandwith that you would use?

thanks

Answer 1

Personally, until you have measures that you need things like comet, I would use basic JSON polling with things like throttling (so you slow down the polling on quiet rooms). And a very basic "nothing had changed" message. For an example, click the "chat" link above. It is simple and pragmatic...

Re keeping between pages; trickier especially if you don't want Silverlight. We use a few HTML 5 tricks there to avoid hammering the connections.