The Personal ServerBY CHANDLER MILES

What is it?

Ubiquitous Computing Concept in computer science where computing is made to appear

everywhere and anywhere. (Computing can occur using any device, in any location, and in any format.

The Personal Server A handheld, displayless device that stores a user’s personal

information and connects to public terminals through a PAN (Personal Area Network), emulating a desktop workspace.

Motivations

Why use a Personal Server? Small, scaled down interfaces are

inefficient to work on.

Lack of personal data available on public terminals.

Figure 1

How do I use it?

Enter a room, and the Personal Server will query appropriate devices to interface with.

Once connected, the filesystem of the server will mount itself onto the device, and a desktop workspace will appear.

Drawbacks and Challenges

Security and Privacy TAMU Library might not appreciate you hijacking their television

screen and using it as a workspace.

Constantly querying network devices alerts malicious sources to your network presence.

Convenient Interfaces With resolution and screen size varying wildly from device to device,

it might be difficult to find the most convenient display format.

Relies on “communal” devices and displays.

Summary

The Personal Server eliminates the problems associated with doing efficient work on small interfaces, and accessing personal information that might not be available on a public terminal.

By connecting to available “community” devices and mounting an emulation of a desktop workspace as well as the server’s filesystem, users have a mobile desktop experience.

Drawbacks exist for the Personal Server implementation, as well as Ubiquitous Computing in general.

Bibliography

Want, Royu, Trevor Perring, Gunner Danneels, Muthu Kumar, Murali Sundar, and John Light. "The Personal Server: Changing the Way We Think about Ubiquitous Computing - Springer." The Personal Server: Changing the Way We Think about Ubiquitous Computing - Springer. 5 Sept. 2002. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.