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Web service
A service offered by an electronic device to another electronic device, communicated with each other via the World Wide Web. In practice, a web service commonly provides an object-oriented web-based interface to a database server, utilized for example by another web server, or by a mobile app, that provides a user interface to the end user.
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing.
IP addresses are assigned to a host either dynamically at the time of booting, or permanently by fixed configuration of the host hardware or software. Persistent configuration is also known as using a static IP address.
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used on UDP/IP networks whereby a DHCP server dynamically assigns an IP address and other network configuration parameters to each device on a network so they can communicate with other IP networks. A DHCP server enables computers to request IP addresses and networking parameters automatically from the Internet service provider (ISP), reducing the need for a network administrator or a user to manually assign IP addresses to all network devices. In the absence of a DHCP server, a computer or other device on the network needs to be manually assigned an IP address, or to assign itself an APIPA address, which will not enable it to communicate outside its local subnet.
On the Web, each server has an HTTPD or Hypertext Transfer Protocol daemon that waits in attendance for requests to come in from the rest of the Web. A daemon is a program that is "an attendant power or spirit" (Webster's). It sits waiting for requests to come in and then forwards them to other processes as appropriate.
HTTP is the set of rules for transforming files (text, graphic images, sound, video and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web. As soon as a Web user opens their Web browser, the user is indirectly making use of HTTP. HTTP is an application protocol that runs on top of the TCP/IP suite of protocols (the foundation protocols for the Internet).
HTTPS is an extension of HTTP. The HTTPS communication protocol is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS). The protocol can also be referred to as HTTP over TLS.
A Web client is the client / user, side of the Web. It typically refers to the Web browser in the user's machine. For RMS, the data logger is the client and sends it data to the Web server.
A Web server is split into two parts: hardware and software.
oHardware: A Web server is a computer that stores Web server software and a website's component files (HTML documents, images, CSS stylesheets and JavaScript files). It is connected to the Internet and supports physical data interchange with other devices connected to the Web
oSoftware: A Web server includes parts that control how Web users access hosted files. A HTTP server is a piece of software that understands URLs and HTTP. It can be accessed through the domain names (like rotronic.com) of websites it stores and delivers their content to the Web client.