I am still new to nodejs. After finishing the beginner tutorial that I can found on google. I am not sure if nodejs will be the best solution for my application. Currently, I want to create a server that receive GPS data, process it, then send raw data to client on real time. Client will then use google map API to draw out the GPS location.
From my reading, I only see nodejs sending data via HTTP/HTTPS protocol. On the other hand, in the documentation, nodejs also support UDP. I am not sure which type of protocol would be suitable for my application.
I'm a noob as well but I'm currently developping the very same project over there using Nodejs, socket.io and Drupal. My guess is that you're already considering to serve the GPS data from nodejs to your users through TCP using HTTP and you're surely only wondering about which transport protocol you would need for the GPS to Nodejs part ?!
I didn't try trought UDP because the several first tests I just achieved with simple POST over HTTP are doing ok right now for transporting the data from GPS to Nodejs. I tryed both sending from a mobile phone application (Phonegap Android) and/or from one of those low cost tracking device.
Here you can read an overview about TCP vs UDP.
Remember : => UDP is way lighter and faster but somewhat less reliable than TCP.
For what it worth, I will stay with TCP because I need to feedback the device user from time to time like : "Your emergency request has been received by NodeJs" or "Your full track has been stored by NodeJs"). ++