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How to design hardware to connect with a Web Server ( With Ethernet)

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Rigolon:
Hey guys,

I may have a chance to work on a project to design a product for a company. The equipment is suppose to control velocity and direction of a motor. Can't really discuss more than that. It's pretty simple do that and I know I can do this with ease.

But here is the catch, this company sells the machine that has this motor across the nation and they want to control this from the internet. And that's what I don't have any idea on how to do. So from the web I would choose the device I want to connect to and increase/decrease velocity for example.

I know that I will need a web server and found a lot of material on how to build one, but I have no idea on what I will need to do with the hardware and how to configure it to connect with the web server. I'm having trouble on how to search on the web, so this is what I want help with.
Any links or terms that I can use to search for references?

Some dude suggested that I use the module usr-tcp232-t2, for now I have the Ethernet Shield for arduino to start learning.
Are there any other module you guys suggest?

PS.: The company asked for the connection be by ethernet and not Wi-Fi

rstofer:
There are many embedded web server projects on the Internet.  A minimalist server is coded on each client machine.

Search for 'embedded web server'

https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/projects/using-an-arduino-as-a-web-server/

Even Arduinos can do it!

I would use an mbed compatible LPC1768 board because the only thing you need to add to the hardware is a MagJack to get wired ethernet.
https://www.mbed.com/en/

https://os.mbed.com/platforms/mbed-LPC1768/

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of platforms that can do this kind of thing.

stoyanoff:
Are you sure you want an expansion module? You can just use an interface iC + RJ-45 shielded connector?! It is cheeper, you will have controll over the quality of the RJ-45 connector(this could be important in some ways) and you will have control over the TCPIP stack and how your system is going to work...
Best regards!

rstofer:
This project is a lot like the millions of IoT projects and MOST of them are gigantic security leaks.  You have an unprotected web port open to the universe with no real control over what happens to it.  You might research IoT security.  If the mothership can contact the web server, so can the kid living in his grandmother's basement.

I think I would spend more time worrying about security and less time worrying about the application.  I don't know if SSH has been implemented on a low end uC and this alone might drive the project toward a Raspberry Pi and Linux.  Since, presumably, there are a very limited number of authorized users who can contact the widget over the Ethernet, it might be worth developing a custom application for the users and using a very secure link.

An open Port 80 will be discovered in minutes.  Use a firewall like SmoothWall and see how often your router gets hammered.

in the end, no matter what you do, somebody is going to break through your security.  It may take minutes, it may take an hour but it won't take more than that.  If what can be done over the Internet can result in a safety hazard, I would run away from this project as fast as my feet could take me.  Somebody is going to get the blame when a user gets injured and liability insurance almost certainly woudn't cover the damages.

capt bullshot:
If you don't know how to make a web server on a MCU or arduino, I'd recommend to use e.g. a Raspberry Pi board to set up the web server, this would allow to use all the common knowledge and tools to do so and doesn't require hardware design. Then you'd have to find a way to connect the Raspi to your motor controller and issuing commands to the motor controller. One of the simplest ways to do would be to use a serial port, or some GPIOs.

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