Files representing disks stored on server rather than locally?

[macrah 0]

I've been toying around with OC on my own server with play on another Intranet attached computer. To my surprise, the files representing the hard disks were stored on the server rather than on the game player's computer.

 

Is there a config setting or a method to change this behavior? If not, should there be a way?

 

 

[Michiyo 28]

All actual processing is done on the server, the client just displays output / sends input so the files *have* to be on the server.

[macrah 0]

I kind of get this, @Michiyo as it's the easiest to get data on nearby block statuses, etc. into the program requests , etc. It gives me pause on a couple of fronts.

The server gets responsibility for storage of as many disks as all the users have.

The server gets responsibility for all the additional processing of all the user's lua scripts.

The server gets responsibility for  any personal data all users may (foolishly) choose to store on these files. Most MC mods don't have much in the way of an ability to store personal data, just things that affect the disposition of the MC worlds.

 

I'll have to think on this.

 

I'm not sure the processing and files "have" to be on the server, but it may be unmanageable to do it any other way. It might take quite a bit of thought and redesign to get it otherwise, maybe too much to be worth it.

[Gorzoid 10]

If files and processing was all done client side then having multiple users use a computer would be next to impossible, requiring the server to relay the state of the computer back and forth continuosly. It's also bad networking practice to do any important processing client side.

[macrah 0]

I'd have to say that's not quite true @Gorzoid. Take the OC mod out of it and say you and I are in a server game. I am looking at a block on my screen and decide to break it. I click the mouse button, my copy of MC initiates a request to the server, server takes that, changes it's database to reflect the change (if the change is valid), and then my copy of MC gets info back. All a simplified look at it MC. On that same track, you need info about how I impacted our shared world, so you also see it as the server reports to your copy of MC that the block is broken.

The same could be said of the case with OC's interaction with the shared world, but it wouldn't be person initiated block changes as it would be the Lua scripts initiating action (edit although think about a multi-block break when I just hold down the mouse button, there is no human action as the mouse and computer are just generating signal without pause endedit). The only part of the shared world that wouldn't be available to you if my computers instituted an action on the world would be the data stored on the OC information storage (in the disks, etc). So, yes, the Lua scripts might initiate actions more frequently as they are faster than a person, but they would not necessarily have more network traffic for the same amount of effect on the shared world. And that might be more than compensated for by not having the responsibilities for data that I noted above.

Also, if this view were taken, the server side could have some config setting to control the intervals between activities so that an admin could control the amount of network traffic the OC could generate from each user. 

The only thing left is that the data stored on the drives would not be shareable between users. For instance, I could build a drive, put data on it, give it to you in game. when you got the drive, it would be blank as the data didn't really exist on the server. To share the data, I'd have to do it outside the game so that you could then access it.

There are probably a couple of holes in this as I don't know the ins and outs of OC, but I think it's generally sound. I'm also not certain that this would be a good change as there may be complexities not worth overcoming (like maybe message transmission on a network, although that's kind of like a redstone signal and that works on a shared world).

Edited April 13, 2017 by macrah
added context to a statement and noted same

[TYKUHN2 2]

Pros of Processing on Client:

-Easier file access

Pros of Processing on Server:

-More Secure

-Faster

-No harder file access

 

Oh and as for you analogy, MC processes on the server too. You send a keypress to the server and the SERVER breaks the block depending on if it wants you to. This can be seen under high-lag circumstances with the block reappearing (server didn't acknowledge) also command blocks and redstone all server sided.

[skyem123 4]

The two potential issues with storing files on your server are

1. You having to deal with potentially sensitive information being stored
2. Storage space on your server being used up.

(1) can be solved by warning people that storing stuff on a computer is like saying it publicly in chat or writing it on a an in game sign
(2) is not any real worry because OC has size limitations AND it'll be easier to just generate new terrain to use up disk by running a long way than it is to write files.

[skyem123 4]

For issues such as using up the server's processing power and security, don't worry about that. OC has a lot of strict limits that prevent that.

Making OC execute on clients would not really work and could actually cause more harm as now clients have to send a lot of data to the server, and the server would have to execute OC itself for each client's response to verify the client isn't cheating somehow.
The key thing that is useful for OC is robots and drones that do things with out any player intervention... they HAVE to be able to run without clients doing things for them.

I understand you want security and stuff, but compared to the general risk of running a Minecraft server, OC is not a big deal!