Sun RPC
| Industry | Computer software |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982 |
| Founder | Vinod Khosla, Andy Bechtolsheim, Scott McNealy, Bill Joy |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Open Network Computing (ONC) Remote Procedure Call (RPC) |
Open Network Computing (ONC) Remote Procedure Call (RPC), commonly referred to as Sun RPC, is a remote procedure call framework created by Sun Microsystems during the 1980s as a component of their Network File System initiative.
The ONC RPC framework adheres to Unix and C language calling conventions and employs External Data Representation (XDR) for data serialization, enabling interoperability between different platforms. It delivers XDR-encoded messages over either UDP or TCP. Access to RPC services is managed via a port mapper that operates on port 111 using both UDP and TCP protocols.
The initial definition of ONC RPC version 2 appeared in (April 1988), followed by revisions in (June 1988) and further enhancements in (August 1995); its current specification is outlined in (May 2009). Authentication mechanisms related to ONC RPC are specified in RFCs 2695, 2203, and 2623.
Most Unix-like operating systems natively support ONC RPC implementations. Microsoft offered an implementation for Windows through the now-obsolete Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX, alongside various third-party implementations available for C/C++, Java, and the .NET framework.
In 2009, Sun Microsystems reissued ONC RPC under the widely used 3-clause BSD license, a licensing update that was later confirmed by Oracle Corporation in 2010, thereby broadening its adoption potential within both commercial and open-source environments.
References
External links
- RFC 5531 - Remote Procedure Call Protocol Specification Version 2 (current standard)
- RFC 1831 - Version 2 of the RPC Protocol Specification (third published edition)
- RFC 1057 - Second published version of the RPC Protocol Specification Version 2
- RFC 1050 - First published version of RPC Protocol Specification Version 2
- Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) — ONC RPC tutorial by Dr Dave Marshall, Cardiff University
- Introduction to RPC Programming — SGI IRIX developer documentation guide
- Sun ONC Developer's guide
- Netbula's PowerRPC for Windows (ONC RPC with extended IDL support)
- Netbula's JRPC (ONC RPC implementation for Java platforms including J2SE, J2ME, Android)
- ONC/RPC Implementation by University of Aachen
- Remote Tea (LGPL Java implementation)
- Remote Tea .Net (LGPL C# implementation)
- Distinct Corporation's ONC RPC solution for Windows
- Linux Journal article covering ONC RPC
- Java NIO-based ONC RPC library