* Route1 Mobi's system helps you keep your desktop PC with you, wherever you go
Sometimes it’s fun working for a technology assessment firm. We get to look at all kinds of information technologies, often long before they see the light of day. Currid & Company just studied a new remote access product, and we’re anxiously waiting for this product to ship to customers. All of us at my firm have decided we want one of these.
I’m talking about the Mobi system from Route1. Mobi made its debut in September at DEMOmobile 2004, where innovative mobile computing products are introduced. Conference producers called Mobi “the smart alternative to laptop computing.” I’d have to agree.
Let me set the backdrop for why you would want to use the Mobi system, which includes hardware, software and a monthly service. Let’s say you have a desktop PC that you use when you’re deskbound in the office. When you work away from that desk – at home, on the road, or even in a conference room down the hall – you have another computer, probably a laptop. The laptop isn’t configured exactly like the desktop, and it doesn’t have all the same files. Moving between the two computers is a hassle, as well as costly due to having to buy two sets of equipment and all the incumbent software.
The Mobi system makes your office desktop your one real computing device, whether you’re at your desk or not. Here’s how:
You start with a portable device called a Mobi that is your remote access computer. This device is basically a laptop or PDA with an operating system and a communication agent. There is no need for any application software on this device; you’ll see why in a moment.
Next you have your desktop PC, on which you install a small agent that sends out a periodic signal. This heartbeat indicates that the PC is ready to communicate with its specific remote counterpart (i.e., the Mobi device). This signal is heard by a server, called a MobiNet Master, operated and maintained by Route1.
The MobiNet Master perks up when it hears a request from your portable Mobi device asking to connect to the desktop PC, which we’ll call “the host.” (The host could be a single PC, or it could be a blade PC configuration.) The Master establishes a secure connection to the host using digital certificates, and then gives Mobi’s network address to the host. The host then contacts the Mobi device’s network address, and they establish a secure connection using SSL. Once this connection is made, Master fades to the background and lets the host and Mobi talk. Mobi can now take control of the desktop PC and do anything on it that you could do if sitting in front of the PC.
The beauty of the Mobi system is that only encrypted keystrokes and screen images are ever transferred between the host and the Mobi using SSL. No data or applications ever reside on the Mobi. You can see why Route1 has lots of banks and other financial companies very interested in this solution. Workers get to work away from their desks without compromising the security of corporate data. What’s more, you only pay for one set of application software, not two, because all applications are executed on the one host device.
You might wonder about the Mobi device and how it communicates with its host. Any typical form of data communication is supported, including dial-up, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, CDMA 1x/EV-DO, and GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS. As you traverse from one network to the next, your session is completely managed, even in the middle of document edits. If the carrier signal is lost during a session, the MobiNet Master steps in to automatically re-establish the connection securely without you having to log on again.
This is a set-it-and-forget type of solution. You install a simple agent on the host PC, as well as an agent on the Mobi device. The MobiNet Master service is an inexpensive monthly subscription – Route1 anticipates the cost to be less than $20 per month, per user. You can use whatever means of communication is available to you at the time of connection. It doesn’t get much simpler than this. What an easy, inexpensive and secure way to provide remote computing to your road warriors, day-extenders, and telecommuters.
Currid & Company has written a white paper about this new technology. You can download your free copy at https://www.route1.com/IT_Mobility_Pain_Chain/white_paper.htm While you’re doing that, I’m going to check the mail to see if my Mobi has arrived yet!
Linda Musthaler is vice president of Currid & Company. You can write to her at mailto:Linda.Musthaler@currid.com
