Personal Clouds Improve Accessibility and Reduce Maintenance

The familiar model for cloud computing is one where personal computers hold less and less in terms of files and applications. The home computer is a simple gateway to the cloud platform, and local resources are basically idle. In an unexpected role reversal, Dallas-based Cognitier, Inc. has released software to remotely access files and run applications already on the home computer from across the internet. Cognitier’s Personal Cloud product acknowledges the computer-owning public’s existing investment in high-capacity machines and applications, and it seeks to take advantage of it. If a person’s priority is greater accessibility to his or her computer, then the Personal Cloud might be a logical option.

In a typical cloud-computing scenario, the user designates files to be copied to the cloud, along with a schedule for these transmissions. This gives the user remote access to the set of files designated ahead of time, and the copy on the cloud is as fresh as the last transmission. If a file or directory is not included in the cloud-backup routine, then it simply is not accessible remotely. Also, in the case where there is a large file on the computer which changes frequently, it may not be practical to maintain a copy of the file in the cloud which is always up-to-date. In the reversed-role scenario, all files on the computer are always accessible with their up-to-the-minute contents.

Until now, consumers who have needed real-time access to their home computers have relied upon remote-control applications which render a virtual desktop on the remote computer. If a person’s real need is to view a particular file or retrieve the output of a simple function, then the overhead of logging into a virtual desktop, navigating to a file, and launching an application on the virtual desktop to view the file is burdensome. In addition, remote desktop sessions in general are not smart phone friendly. The Personal Cloud http://homeweb. cognitier. com/ product provides a file-viewing paradigm which is more akin to typical cloud computing, where the target file is rendered directly in the smart phone’s browser with just a few taps. Also, whereas a virtual desktop provides a view into a single computer, the Personal Cloud product provides access to multiple computers simultaneously. So for users who own multiple computers, they have the ability to search for a file on all of them at the same time, for example, and quickly view the copies of the file found on each computer.

About Cognitier, Inc.

Since 2009, Dallas-based Cognitier (http://www. cognitier. com) has been producing software which increases the computing capacity and accessibility of Windows-based systems. Contact Cognitier by email (support@cognitier. com) or phone (866-991-5991).

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