Arduino Control over the internet I am really interested in IoT (enthusiastic noob) and I would like to use the arduino board. Here are the steps according to me, with my queries:


User goes to example.com/arduino_switch
Interacts with an HTML form to toggle an action
Sends the data over the Internet (This is the part I have problem understanding)
Arduino receives the data point (how can we do this? polling a url or can we actively send it)
performs the action (easy to do for me)


Any and all help will be appreciated, even if its just pointing me to the right resources.
You have two choices:


The Arduino regularly communicates with an external web server, sending data and asking if there is anything to do. This is the way Mitsubishi heatpumps can be controlled from the web. The advantage is that your internet connection does not need to publish a web server. Drawback is that the communication is slow (being dependent on the polling interval), plus the need for a web server to talk to. For instance, to control your Mitsubishi heatpump, you need to create an account on one of their servers for the purpose.
The Arduino exposes a web interface that is then exposed to the internet. This needs configuration of your internet router and preferably a static IP address on the internet. Security is a problem, and I'm not sure that even the Due can do HTTPS plus some form of authentication. I used this method, but fronted my Arduino with an old laptop running Linux and Apache web server. The laptop does the authentication and HTTPS processing. Advantage is near real-time control; disadvantage is the amount of hardware and configuration required.