Sources

What Is a Source?

A source is the input side of a channel pair — it defines where messages originate from. When you create a channel pair, you choose a source type and configure it to receive data from the system or device you want to integrate.

ioBufferPro supports five source types, each suited for different integration scenarios.

TCP Server

A TCP Server source listens for incoming connections on a specified port. External systems connect to ioBufferPro to send their messages.

Use when: External systems need to connect to ioBufferPro (e.g., medical devices, monitoring systems, or applications that push data outward).

Configuration:

Setting	Description
Host	Bind address. Use 0.0.0.0 for all network interfaces, or 127.0.0.1 for localhost only
Port	The port number to listen on
TLS	Enable encrypted connections with certificate and key file paths

{
  "type": "tcp_server",
  "host": "0.0.0.0",
  "port": 5000,
  "tls": {
    "enabled": true,
    "cert": "/path/to/cert.pem",
    "key": "/path/to/key.pem"
  }
}

TCP Client

A TCP Client source connects to a remote server to receive messages. ioBufferPro initiates the connection and automatically reconnects if the connection is lost.

Use when: ioBufferPro needs to connect to an existing server to pull data (e.g., connecting to a central data feed or an upstream system).

Configuration:

Setting	Description
Host	Remote server hostname or IP address
Port	Remote server port number
TLS	Enable encrypted connections

{
  "type": "tcp_client",
  "host": "192.168.1.100",
  "port": 6000,
  "tls": {
    "enabled": false
  }
}

TIP

If the remote server becomes unavailable, ioBufferPro automatically reconnects using exponential backoff — no manual intervention required.

Serial Port (RS232/RS485)

A Serial Port source reads data from a serial device connected to the system. This is ideal for integrating legacy equipment that communicates over RS232 or RS485.

Use when: You need to receive data from serial-connected devices such as medical instruments, industrial sensors, barcode scanners, or legacy equipment.

Configuration:

Setting	Description	Common Values
Port	Serial port identifier	COM1, COM3 (Windows) or /dev/ttyUSB0, /dev/ttyS0 (Linux)
Baud Rate	Communication speed	9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200
Data Bits	Number of data bits per byte	7, 8
Parity	Error detection method	None, Even, Odd
Stop Bits	Number of stop bits	1, 2
Flow Control	Flow control method	None, RTS/CTS, XON/XOFF

{
  "type": "serial",
  "port": "COM3",
  "baud_rate": 9600,
  "data_bits": 8,
  "parity": "None",
  "stop_bits": 1,
  "flow_control": "None"
}

Remote ioBufferPro

A Remote ioBufferPro source receives messages from another ioBufferPro instance. This enables chaining multiple ioBufferPro deployments together for multi-site or multi-tier architectures.

Use when: You need to relay messages between ioBufferPro instances across different sites, networks, or environments.

Configuration:

Setting	Description
URL	The remote ioBufferPro instance address
Channel ID	The specific channel to receive from
Authentication	Credentials for the remote instance

{
  "type": "remote_icombuffer",
  "url": "http://remote-server:8080",
  "channel_id": "channel-001",
  "auth": {
    "username": "relay_user",
    "password": "********"
  }
}

UDP

A UDP source receives UDP datagrams on a specified port. UDP is a connectionless protocol, making this source type ideal for high-volume, low-overhead data streams.

Use when: You need to receive syslog messages, SNMP traps, or other UDP-based protocol data.

Configuration:

Setting	Description
Host	Bind address. Use 0.0.0.0 for all interfaces
Port	The port number to listen on

{
  "type": "udp",
  "host": "0.0.0.0",
  "port": 514
}

INFO

UDP is inherently connectionless, so there is no connection status or reconnection logic for this source type. ioBufferPro listens continuously for incoming datagrams.