Implementing clients for control and monitoring using AJAX

We present a full client for control and monitoring using asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX), a new technology for dynamic and interactive web based clients. Distributed data acquisition (DAQ) systems can contain a significant number of nodes. The number and location of nodes on the front end of the system are usually determined during the design phase, while the control and monitoring clients can change both in number and physical location during the life of the system. It is also desirable for the clients to be easily modifiable for new needs. Software installation and maintenance on such a large distributed system can quickly become complicated when taking into account version upgrades, support for software such as Java, security and administrative rights on each node. AJAX offers a complete solution to these issues above, with no need to install any software on a client node apart from an operating system and a browser. We evaluate this technology for distributed data acquisition and monitoring systems and compare with desktop clients.