Remote Office

Introduction

I run many computers, but I need to have the data organized so that I can access the information in a consistent manner even if the underlying storage changes. At a file level, this can be accomplished with NFS and AutoFS. At an application level, I have been using VNC virtual desktops to provide a consistent application view. With access to higher resolution displays and higher performance computers, I've decided to try to shift to using local computer resources, that is, the computer I'm sitting in front of, over remote resources.

Components

The components that I need to implement are shown in Table 1, “Remote Office Components”.

Table 1. Remote Office Components

ComponentDescriptionImplementationCompleted
IMAPInternet Message Access Protocol. Needed by mail clients for handling mail folders.Dovecot10/26/08
E-Mail ClientView e-mail folders, handle new e-mail, search e-mail, send e-mailEvolution 
Calendar ClientHandle meeting requests sent in e-mail or through web sites. Send meeting requests.Evolution 
CalDAV ServerProvides an network calendar service compatible with Evolution and Thunderbird.