Let's say I've got a program on my PC which uses my modem to dial a phone number. This goes through the phone line to an external modem attached to a control system in a factory somewhere. It then talks to the system in its own protocol and extracts data from it. Fine so far. (Dunno if this makes any difference but this is all within the UK).

Now what I want to do is have this program run on a webserver, so that everyday it automatically runs at 1.15AM, dials into the factory, extracts the data, and enters it into the mySQL database.

Question is - can I do this with a normal dedicated webserver? Would it need an additional modem? Can a normal server in normal surroundings have access to a phone line like this, as if it wasn't a webserver at all.

It needs to be a webserver though, because the way it manipulates and gives access to the data from the control system, once its in the sql db, is the normal intrernet way.

What'd'ya rekon?

Well you'd probably set up a cron and make something to store into MySQL. You'd also have to use a Dynamic DNS server because your IP would be changing because it's dial-up..

"Additional modem" is a bit ambiguous. I'd guesstimate that the majority of dedicated servers online in the world don't have a modem in them to begin with. If they do, I'd ask why, since it is a wasted cost in 99.99% of cases. However, you have a case for a modem. We actually do a similar thing for a small number of customers. Ask your provider what it would cost to add a modem and dedicated a phone line to your server. Be prepared for an extra monthly cost, as they have direct costs involved, but it shouldn't be difficult for a provider to do.

Also, there's nothing magical about a "webserver" that would exclude it from being able to use a modem. There are many great modem utilities available for Linux, FreeBSD, etc etc. Your program should run fine along with the webserver, your database, and any other reasonable software you have on the machine.

Hope that helps.

Sounds simple enough, rather than having two modems one in the server and one in the client, I would just go for a dialup ISP and a normal dedicated server and transfer the information over the internet using https and SSL.

Im sure some dedicated server co could accomidate your idea of a modem in the server, but then you would also have to pay for a telephone line in their facility. I have actualy seen an instance where a company offers dial up shell access to hosting accounts, rather weird, but handy on occasion.

Thanks for your help.

If it was possible to do this task using http that would be a better way - but there are some things which I think make it impossible.

The client might be a box called a programmable logic controller (PLC) - which doesn't have the facility to connect to the internet, but does have a modem. When an intelligent device dials up to that modem and certain commands come through, it responds by sending requested data back. That is about all it can do.

To use normal internet communication I'd need a 'middle man' wouldn't I? A PC on site, which extracts the data from the PLC then connects to the internet and sends it.

Without that, seems to me, the only way is to have a modem on the dedicated server which dials up to the PLC using a phone number.