6.2.1 Communication Gateway

Overview

The Communication Gateway is primarily used in geographically distributed networks. While the Main Gateway remains in contact with the web browser for session coordination, all active connections are established and maintained through the Communication Gateway. If the connection cost—measured in terms of latency or performance—is lower via the Communication Gateway, the browser will use this path to access the target resources. Otherwise, the connection may fall back to the Main Gateway.

Communication Gateways maintain constant communication with the Primary Broker to handle user sessions that are redirected to them. They also coordinate with other nodes in the network to ensure secure, stable, and efficient access to the designated resources.

This distributed design improves performance by:

• Minimizing round-trip time.

• Offloading the Main Gateway.

• Enhancing scalability and fault tolerance.

For example, in this graphic each region (Americas, Europe, Asia) has its own Communication Gateway and Secondary Broker, which handle local connections to Terminal Services, Virtual Machines, and Physical Desktops.

Latency Reduction Mechanisms

Geo-IP Based Routing

Thinfinity® Workspace uses Geo-IP routing to automatically redirect users to the nearest Communication Gateway based on their physical location. This reduces latency by shortening the path between the client device and the target resource.

Traffic Management

To optimize data flow and maintain system efficiency, Thinfinity Workspace supports:

• Layer 4/Layer 7 firewall rules for granular control.

• Path tracing for troubleshooting and performance monitoring.

• Traffic metering for usage tracking and bandwidth allocation.

Deployment Flexibility

Thinfinity Workspace supports deployment across:

• Public clouds (e.g., AWS, Azure).

• Hybrid environments with on-premises and cloud infrastructure.

• Edge environments, placing resources closer to end users to reduce latency.

Performance Guidelines by Distance and Latency

Performance Level	Distance	Latency	Use Cases
Optimum Performance	100–200 km (60–120 miles)	< 20 ms	Real-time applications (VoIP, video conferencing, interactive UIs).
Good Performance	200–500 km (120–310 miles)	20–50 ms	Business tools, design apps, light CAD workloads.
Latency Noticeable	> 500 km (310 miles)	> 50 ms	May affect time-sensitive tasks (live broadcast, VoIP, remote control).
High Latency Impact	≥ 1000 km	Significantly increased	Unsuitable for interactive applications; performance degradation expected.