An HTTP server running over SSL is probably fine, I just didn't think I had to go that route. The specifics of the matter are this: my company has a box that takes care of multi-step routines for database tasks, and we want a secure means to talk to it and get a response back (usually a table row's id). These tasks are things like "add object type X number Y to container number Z", which means updating a handful of tables: a non-atomic process that looks atomic from the outside (that is, from the perspective of the person calling addObjectToContainer("person" => 100, 4923).

So I don't care if the mechanism is https://XXX/addObjectToContainer?otype=person&oid=100&cid=4923, really, I just want something simple. I'm not sending objects back and forth. Just simple data TO the server, and an ID number BACK.