Coding a Secure TCP Chat Server from Scratch in Rust (No HTTP)

We are ditching JSON and HTTP. In this video, we build a high-performance TCP chat server from scratch using Rust, Tokio, and a custom Binary Protocol.

In Part 1, we analysed why naive architectures fail. Now, we write the production code. We implement the "Switchboard Architecture" using DashMap for lock-free concurrency and design a custom, length-prefixed binary protocol for efficient and low-latency data transfer.

We also implement the encryption layer manually using AES-256, ensuring that the server acts as a "Blind Router" for End-to-End Encryption (E2EE), meaning it never stores or sees your messages.

Topics Covered:
🏗️ Project Setup: Setting up tokio, bytes, and dashmap.
📦 Protocol Design: Designing a custom Header/Payload byte structure.
🔢 Byte Parsing: Writing a TCP frame parser to handle stream fragmentation.
⚡ The Switchboard: Implementing the handle_client loop with Split Tasks.
🔐 Crypto Utils: Wrapping AES-256-GCM for the client handshake.

The Roadmap:
Part 1: Architecture Analysis (Why the old server crashed)
Part 2 (This Video): Implementation & Custom Protocol Design
Part 3: Building the Client & Real-World Load Test

🔗 Socials:
GitHub: https://github.com/ByteMaster2003
Website: https://viveksahani.com

#RustLang #NetworkProgramming #TCP #SystemsEngineering #CodingTutorial