Quote Originally Posted by sehe View Post
The problem is with the HTTP is that if you have 300+ servers the php/java scripts rapes the CPU. AFAIK that's why HaloRank shut down for a long time, cuz it couldn't handle so much servers. + It also gives a lot of network overheat too, while with a server sided C++ app you can can do this with 1/1000 CPU usage and about 1/10 network usage.
If HTTP is good enough for millions of websites and services, it's good enough for HaloRank. I assume database queries are what contributes most to the server load, and that won't change if you use a dedicated protocol. HTTP doesn't really have that much overhead, especially if you compress it..