Patent ID: 8103763

Claim:
A system comprising: a computer server, at least one device, said device having a controller, wherein said controller is adapted to perform a function; a computer network; wherein said device further comprises a network interface for communicating information between said device and said computer server over said computer network, said information conforming to a predefined communications protocol, and wherein said predefined communications protocol is used for at least one of either remote configuration, control, or monitoring of said device, and wherein said predefined communications protocol is adapted to recognize said device as a hierarchical tree of contexts, and wherein each context of the said tree of contexts comprises a set of data elements and metadata describing each said data element, and wherein said data elements of said devices can be accessed and manipulated from said computer server through said computer network using said communications protocol and wherein said computer server further comprises a logic circuit adapted to: exchange digital information between said devices and a database of said computer server, wherein said digital information is exchanged in accordance with said predefined communications protocol, store local copies of said metadata of each said context of each said device, and of values of each data element of the property type of each said device, wherein said local copies are stored on the computer server or on an external storage device with which said computer server is able to maintain a substantially uninterrupted communication over said computer network, cause said devices to execute said operations, and receive from said devices said event notifications and store said event notifications on said computer server or said external storage device.