I need to create a distributed application consisting of multiple clients that send files (plus info about files) to one server, also query that server.
Clients must access to that Web Server from inside the company for sending the files. But, occasionally some specific queries must run outside the company.
I think, given what I know, that RMI is a faster(operating performance) way to connect the desktop client with the indexing engine plus the storage engine. And I believe that making a Web Service that provide an access layer to the search engine is also a good decision, because it will be running outside company’s network.
What do you think about it? Is a good approach or do you have some alternatives must be considered.
Thank you in advance.
RMI can be tunnelled over HTTP (see here), so don’t let that influence your decision too much.
If both ends can talk RMI, then RMI is probably what you should use; it’s a lot easier to get working than a web service.