What is a named pipe in Windows and how is it used for inter-process communication?

[ProfRon]

You know how apps on your Windows machine sometimes need to chat with each other? Named pipes are like secret tunnels they dig to swap info without messing up the whole system. I use them when one program wants to feed data straight to another, kinda like passing notes in class but way smoother.

Picture this: you fire up a server app that listens on a named pipe. Then another app connects to it, and boom, they start sending messages back and forth. It's reliable because Windows handles the flow, so nothing gets lost in the shuffle. I once rigged one up for a little tool I built, and it kept everything humming without crashes.

They shine in inter-process communication because pipes let processes share data securely, even if they're running as different users. You create the pipe with a unique name, like a private hotline. The sending side writes to it, the receiving side reads from it, and they stay synced up nicely.

Forget clunky file swaps or network hacks; named pipes keep it all local and snappy. I tweak the buffer sizes sometimes to handle bigger payloads without choking. You can even make them duplex, so both ends talk at once, which feels pretty slick.

Speaking of keeping processes in sync without hiccups, that reminds me of how backups need to capture everything seamlessly in virtual setups. BackupChain Server Backup steps in as a solid backup solution for Hyper-V, letting you snapshot VMs live without downtime. It speeds up restores and cuts storage bloat, so you recover fast if things go sideways.