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UQ Innovation Expo 2003 ITEE Innovation Expo 2002 ITEE Innovation Expo 2001 ITEE Public Web ITEE School Alumni| UQ Innovation Expo 2003 » Mid-Year Student Projects » David Young |
Expanding Network-Portable Access to Remote Computing Resources
Student: David Young
Supervisor: Peter Kootsookos
Category: Engineering Thesis Project - Software
At present, a great deal of the world’s computer infrastructure is connected, at least indirectly. It is easy to see that in a broad sense, the technology exists to allow one’s personal computing resources to be accessed from almost anywhere, but technicalities and complexities get in the way. The continued popularity of laptop and notebook computers in the age of global connectivity goes some way to illustrate this.
The practicalities that disrupt the ideal global network include IP address shortages, access restrictions for the simplification of billing, over-zealous security systems, technologies based on slightly flawed concepts (such as caches and packet forwarding/masquerading), platform or protocol incompatibilities, and short-sighted software design. The internet has largely failed to provide some of the useful features of LANs, such as network drives. Although Virtual Private Networks exist, they are too complicated and long-term for the casual needs of ordinary users.
This project focuses upon improving remote computer access specifically for individuals; particularly itinerant or nomadic users who might find themselves connected to a different network every day – each with its own strengths, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies. The emphasis is on versatility, extending existing systems to go places and communicate with entities that their designers never considered, and bundling up this power into a package that is accessible to ordinary users on the Windows platform.
The culmination of this effort is the development of a system known as Chunnel, which allows users to tunnel, or encapsulate, any protocol “X” within any protocol “Y”, via a set of plugins (each of which adds support for an additional protocol). Plugins can be contributed by anybody, so the available pool of protocols is limited only by the enthusiasm of Chunnel users.