Comparing Unix/Linux IPC

Question

Lots of IPCs are offered by Unix/Linux: pipes, sockets, shared memory, dbus, message-queues...

What are the most suitable applications for each, and how do they perf

Answer 1

Here is a webpage with a simple benchmark: https://sites.google.com/site/rikkus/sysv-ipc-vs-unix-pipes-vs-unix-sockets

As far as I can tell, each has their advantages:

• Pipe I/O is the fastest but needs a parent/child relationship to work.
• Sysv IPC has a defined message boundary and can connect disparate processes locally.
• UNIX sockets can connect disparate processes locally and has higher bandwidth but no inherent message boundaries.
• TCP/IP sockets can connect any processes, even over the network but has higher overhead and no inherent message boundaries.