Suggestion needed for running Server Client on the same PC

Hi all,

I would like to run several (like 6) independent flash movies (let’s call it the clients) on the same PC, displaying numbers, then having another flash movie which would be the control center to control what’s being displayed on the other movies.

I thought of 2 different ways to do this, one would be using text files to store the values for each movie, and then having the clients read every X seconds the text file to grab the value. But I dont know if it’s is viable.
The other way I thought of doing it is with sockets, basically have 1 server which is the control center and then 6 clients, but how can I run all this locally? By setting different ports for each client?

Do you guys have any suggestions for this? I would be greatly apprecited.