File Transfer System with Caching and Protocol Abstraction

Overview

This project implements a robust and scalable File Transfer System in Java, incorporating a Cache Service, a Server, and a Client. The system supports multiple communication protocols through a flexible Transport abstraction, currently including TCP and SNW (Simple Network Wrapper).

Key design principles adhered to in this project include the SOLID principles and clean code standards, ensuring maintainability, scalability, and ease of extension.

Features

• Client-Server Architecture: Facilitates file upload (put) and download (get) operations between clients and the server.
• Caching Mechanism: Enhances performance by storing frequently accessed files in a cache service.
• Protocol Abstraction: Supports multiple communication protocols (TCP and SNW) through a flexible Transport interface.
• Concurrency Handling: Utilizes thread pools to handle multiple client connections simultaneously.
• Robust Error Handling: Provides meaningful error messages and ensures proper resource management.
• Modular Design: Separation of concerns across different classes and interfaces for better maintainability.

Architecture

Figure: High-level architecture of the File Transfer System.

Components

1. Client

   • Handles user interactions and commands.
   • Communicates with the server using the selected transport protocol.

2. Server

   • Manages client connections.
   • Handles file storage and retrieval.
   • Interacts with the Cache Service to optimize file access.

3. Cache Service

   • Stores and retrieves cached files to speed up file access.
   • Acts as an intermediary between the server and the storage backend.

4. Transport Interface

   • Defines the contract for communication protocols.
   • Implemented by tcp_transport and snw_transport for TCP and SNW protocols respectively.

5. CacheManager

   • Manages cache operations such as storing and retrieving files.

6. ClientHandler

   • Processes individual client requests on the server side.

Prerequisites

• Java Development Kit (JDK) 8 or higher
• Git (for cloning the repository)

Installation

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/rhidoyhasanmahmud/TransPorter.git
   cd TransPorter

2. Compile the Source Code

   Navigate to the project directory and compile the Java source files:

   ./compile.sh

Command-line Inputs

The system can be configured using command-line arguments when starting the Server, Cache, and Client. Below are the configurable parameters for each component.

When starting your client, server, and cache, you need to specify several command-line inputs as follows:

• Server: Takes as inputs (1) a port number on which to run and (2) a transport protocol. Example commands:

java server 10000 tcp 
java server 10000 snw

• Cache: Takes as inputs (1) a port number on which to run, (2) server IP, (3) server port, and (4) transport protocol. Example commands:

java cache 20000 localhost 10000 tcp 
java cache 20000 localhost 10000 snw

• Client: Takes as inputs (1) the server IP, (2) the server port, (3) the cache IP, (4) the cache port, and (5) the transport protocol.

java client localhost 10000 localhost 20000 tcp
java client localhost 10000 localhost 20000 snw