Reading/writing data to server, ftp, or website

Question

Hi, I'm writing an app that will periodically send information out to a remote server, and then get relevant information about other users from that server back to the local database. What's the best way to handle sending out this info (i.e.: XML or binary) and writing it to the remote server.

Also, how can I assure that, when 500+ users' data get's to the server or FTP (or better alternative?) at once, the appropriate fields gets overwritten or added, without skipping any or overwriting the entire thing? Thanks for the help.

Answer 1

Have you considered JSON? FTP is generally a solution when it comes to binary data (large files, etc.), however I assume you want to exchange data that contains information in a textual format, so for a website HTTP will be a good way (the best way depends entirely on your server setup, your data format and model).

I have to add, that YAML is also a very nice data format tool if you are using Ruby frameworks, which I prefer over JSON (personal experience).