1. A system comprising: a computer server, at least one device, said device having a controller, wherein said controller is adapted to perform a function; a computer network; wherein said device further comprises a network interface for communicating information between said device and said computer server over said computer network, said information conforming to a predefined communications protocol, and wherein said predefined communications protocol is used for at least one of either remote configuration, control, or monitoring of said device, and wherein said predefined communications protocol is adapted to recognize said device as a hierarchical tree of contexts, and wherein each context of the said tree of contexts comprises a set of data elements and metadata describing each said data element, and wherein said data elements of said devices can be accessed and manipulated from said computer server through said computer network using said communications protocol.