Keep Your Data Safe and Available While Roaming

Yolanda Villate, Arantza Illarramendi, Evaggelia Pitoura

Abstract: The possibility of accessing and/or receiving local or remote data anywhere and at anytime constitutes an important advantage in many business environments. However, when working with mobile devices, users face many problems, such as: (1) devise exposure problems – mobile devices are more vulnerable and fragile than stationary devices, because they can be easily stolen, lost or damaged, (2) media problems – wireless communications are often unstable, asymmetric and expensive, and (3) availability problems – mobile devices stay disconnected for long periods of time. To alleviate these problems, we present a service, Data Lockers, which offers to its users first, the possibility of keeping their data in a secure and safe space in a proxy, thus alleviating the device exposure problem. Next, data stored in a data locker are available even when the mobile device is disconnected, thus providing a solution to the availability problem. Finally, specific tasks are carried out at the fixed network on behalf of the mobile user, in this way relieving the media problem. The architecture of the Locker Rental Service is based on mobile agents. These agents, and the locker, stay always close to the location of the user, traveling to meet the user wherever the user moves, therefore, allowing users to use anywhere-anytime, ubiquitous persistent storage space located at the fixed network.