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Everyone Needs a Personal Server
An anonymous reader writes "Intel Labs is prototyping a potentially revolutionary new 'personal server'. The tiny device -- smaller than a PDA -- comprises a hard disk, BlueTooth, a Web-DAV enabled HTTP daemon, and other technologies enabling the user to access and modify their files from any enabled PC within their "Personal Area Network." In theory, this would allow the worker to access their own data -- essentially to have their own PC -- at any suitable workstation as long as the personal server were nearby. This article at LinuxDevices.com provides background on the personal server concept, explains how the device will enable a truly mobile experience, discusses the basic technologies involved, and provides an architectural block diagram of the prototype, which is based on an XScale Processor running at 400MHz running an embedded Linux OS."
Brings a whole new meaning to mobile computing ;-)
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
but how secure that kind of device can be?
In my life time I have lost 12 pairs of glasses.2 wallets and 5 remote controls, Losing a web server is going to 0wn
-- "of course thats just my opinion, I could be wrong." --Dennis Miller
what you want me to lug my phone, pda, mp3 player, digital camera and now a server as well.
Robin hand me my utility belt and a bandolier of batteries.
an iPod is already 2/3s of that
add wireless and http and presto!
Exercise caution when modding this message up: the author acts like a jerk when his karma is excellent.
I travel a /lot/ -- and I have a need to have my data accessable from anywhere in the world whenever I want it. I have servers in 3 countries connected together for most things, but for very large files (or sets of files) this is really impractical and can get very expensive. So I carry two 120GB USB drives with me wherever I go. These drives are pretty bulky, but they do allow me to do what this "personal server" is promoting - access my data from any workstation.
I don't really need a webserver with me, since that is better placed on a server that I don't unplug. This feature is pretty useless for me. Nor is bluetooth really practical to me, since USB is much wider supported than bluetooth on the machines I might sit at.
What I really need is are smaller portable harddrives with bigger capacities (200GB to start would be nice) that are network-aware. Just plug in an ethernet cable and mount it.
Sun: Introducting Cobalt Qube (not very consumer friendly, but it gets the job done; discontinued)
.NET (access your files anywhere, anytime. One catch - your files are not your property)
Linux/BSD: We had this for years, but it takes a rocket scientist to figure out how to secure a small server and maintain it; not consumer friendly but effective)
Microsoft: Introducing
Intel: Lets build a box for the regular Joe so he can access their files anytime, from anywhere, if he has an always-on connection.
Linux community: Lets hack together a working alternative that works out of the box and runs of dirt cheap hardware and even grandma can use it. Just like we did with MythTV and other lesser known PVRs
Apple: Introducing iPersonalServe
SCO: It was our idea all along!
I have a great idea. You can transport your files from one computer to another. i think i'll call it... WAIT! It's been done! it's called A fucking disk!
if you want to be tech wiz, you could even buy a USB memory card. WOOO!
Even though it's not running Windows, surely some sort of display would be semi-necessary? I'd hate being stuck with a useless paperweight after getting haxored or whatever...
Not really... routers do quite well with aux ports and or web management, true *nix boxes do perfectly well with remote access / console ports. Dedicated devices often don't need displays. Though if you zap the roms on any device, it's going to be a paperwight unless you can get replacements.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
I'd be more concerned with the security of the host I'm using, rather than the fact that the unit is wireless. If the host terminal isn't mine, it can easily be trojaned/sniffed by h4x0rz, employers, The Man, etc.
If I were using this to interface with public machines (like at a library) I'd want the ability to re-image it with a known clean copy of the OS after every use. Removable media to keep my data out of public eyes wouldn't hurt either.
Opportunity knocks. Karma hunts you down.