title: Web browser as web server
body: <p>Sorry if this is a dumb question that's already been asked, but I don't even know what terms to best search for.</p>
  
  <p>I have a situation where a cloud app would deliver a SPA (single page app) to a client web browser. Multiple clients would connect at once and would all work within the same network. An example would be an app a business uses to work together - all within the same physical space (all on the same network).</p>
  
  <p>A concern is that the internet connection could be spotty. I know I can store the client changes locally and then push them all to the server once the connection is restored. The problem, however, is that some of the clients (display systems) will need to show up-to-date data from other clients (mobile input systems). If the internet goes down for a minute or two it would be unacceptable.</p>
  
  <p>My current line of thinking is that the local network would need some kind of "ThinServer" that all the clients would connect to. This ThinServer would then work as a proxy for the main cloud server. If the internet breaks then the ThinServer would take over the job of syncing data. Since all the clients would be full SPAs the only thing moving around would be the data - so the ThinServer would really just need to sync DB info (it probably wouldn't need to host the full SPA - though, that wouldn't be a bad thing).</p>
  
  <p>However, a full dedicated server is obviously a big hurdle for most companies to setup.</p>
  
  <p>So the question is, is there any kind of tech that would allow a web page to act as a web server? Could a business be instructed to go to <code>thinserver.coolapp.com</code> in a browser on any one of their machines? This "webpage" would then say, "All clients in this network should connect to 192.168.1.74:2000" (which would be the IP:port of the machine running this page). All the clients would then connect to this new "server" and that server would act as a data coordinator if the internet ever went down.</p>
  
  <p>In other words, I really don't like the idea of a complicated server setup. A simple URL to start the service would be all that is needed.</p>
  
  <p>I suppose the only option might have to be a binary program that would need to be installed? It's not an ideal solution - but perhaps the only one? If so, are their any programs out there that are single click web servers? I've tried MAMP, LAMP, etc, but all of them are designed for the developer. Any others that are more streamlined?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks for any ideas!</p>