This is just to give a quick update of where the domain-updates branch is at.  (This is a topic branch in my github instance dedicated to the purpose of converting to an update-driven server startup.)

The new Main is in place; we now have separate mains for domain vs standalone startup.  However I have not successfully integrated with Server<->SM communications yet.  Also, there are tests which do not compile because of the change in the class structure of Server.  The new main accepts a bootstrap command object (which includes the initial server model update list) across its stdin and starts up from that.  It then monitors stdin; when it reads an EOF or exception, it shuts down.  Because of this it's not strictly necessary for the Server to maintain a connection to the PM as far as I can see.

I have extracted John's protocol stuff into a separate protocol module which I envision can be reused by Server<->SM, SM<->PM and SM<->SM/DC communications layers.

I introduced a new ServerController service as the entry point for server model updates.  It handles the synchronization and stuff as well.

I think that's all the major points....