Ok I have looked at google app engine as you recommended, it seems to be able to do the job.
I do have a couple of questions regarding it, however. Is it possible, once I have deployed the project to run as a web application, that one of the
java classes can run continuously on a loop without the need for a request from a user. The looping program would then constantly update the datastore with an array of information. A java class that allows the user to correspond with the webserver would then be able to collect information from the datastore and use it.
How would I get a program to run continuously without the need of a user request?
Cheers