Standalone Web Server

Some Iotellect deployments include hundreds of servers running in edge devices with limited hardware resources, such as single-board computers, Linux PLCs, touch panels, and other embedded systems.

Such devices often do not have sufficient RAM or CPU power to run Iotellect Server's embedded web serverefficiently. However, web-based access to these miniature devices is critical for configuration, monitoring, diagnostics, and visualization.

This limitation is addressed by deploying a Standalone Web Server. The Standalone Web Server bridges web-based user connections to one or more backend Iotellect servers using the native Iotellect protocol, while keeping all core processing, data storage, and device interaction on the backend servers.

The same forwarding approach can also be used in centralized installations with a large number of concurrent web users. In this scenario, one or more Standalone Web Server instances act as web entry points (for example, behind NGINX or a standard load balancer) and forward user sessions to one or more backend Iotellect Application Server.

In this configuration, the Standalone Web Server provides web access and forwards user sessions only. Dashboards, bindings, contexts, access control, and all device-related functions (data acquisition, processing, and storage) run on the assigned backend Iotellect Application Server.

Use a Standalone Web Server when you want to:

• Provide a dedicated web entry point (for example, in a DMZ or behind a load balancer).

• Run multiple web entry points for higher availability.

• Route user sessions to a predefined pool of backend servers (preconfigured connections), with the target server selected automatically (Round Robin).

To install and configure the Standalone Iotellect Web Server, follow the steps below.

1. Install a standard Iotellect Server instance and start the server according to the standard installation procedures for Iotellect.

2. Connect to the server using a web browser (or a supported desktop client).

3. Open the global properties of the Web Server plugin and locate the Connection Type setting.

4. Select one of the following connection modes:

   • Any Remote Connections — Allows forwarding incoming connections to any external Iotellect Server instance. In this mode, users specify the target server address and port directly in the Standalone Iotellect Web Server login dialog.

   • Only Preconfigured Connections — Forwards incoming web sessions to the backend Iotellect servers listed in the Preconfigured Connections table. The target backend server is selected automatically using a Round Robin algorithm.

5. If Only Preconfigured Connections is selected, populate the Preconfigured Connections table with the backend Iotellect servers that the Standalone Web Server can forward sessions to. For each backend Iotellect server, specify:

   • The server address or hostname

   • The port used by the Iotellect protocol

6. Save the settings and restart the server if prompted.

After configuration, all web-based user sessions are transparently forwarded through the Standalone Iotellect Web Server to the selected backend Iotellect server (specified by the user in Any Remote Connections, or assigned automatically in Only Preconfigured Connections). Authentication, authorization, permissions, and data access rules are fully enforced by the backend server and remain unchanged. A summary of responsibilities between the Standalone Web Server and the backend Application Server is provided in the Runtime behavior section.

When the Standalone Web Server is configured to forward user sessions to a backend Application Server:

• All incoming web requests to the Standalone Web Server are forwarded to the target backend Iotellect Server (Application Server).

• Each web session is associated with a connection to the target backend Iotellect Server (Application Server) using the native Iotellect protocol.

• Dashboards, contexts, bindings, and related runtime data are retrieved from and executed on the selected backend Iotellect Server (Application Server), while the Standalone Web Server forwards web traffic to it.

In this configuration, the responsibilities are as follows:

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