Communicating to a central server?

i imagine i am about to open a massive can of worms in an area of java development that scares me...but here we go:

i am about to start working on a plugin that needs to communicate with a central server. not just a mysql server, either. the thing is, like all of my experiences in the past, i've got no idea where to start.


this is, in very general terms, what needs to happen:

1. a player calls a command, data is collected by the plugin
2. the plugin sends information to my server
3. another program (i'm thinking an executable jar?) on the server takes the information, analyzes it, returns more information to the plugin

so it's not just a simple database check statement. i realize this goes beyond bukkit, but if anyone might know, i figured it would be you guys!

 

Yeah, you opened up a can of worms, but its actually not all that difficult on paper.

youre gonna need to learn how to deal with packets, and how to create a server/client system. Not something i know how to do from experience, of course, but im gonna be learning it myself soon/eventually

 

packets, perfect, that's exactly the kinda keyword i was looking for. i'm reading up on it now, and (knock on wood) it doesn't seem...impossible. we'll see, though. thanks!