remote access

Sometimes I am at the university and I need some files I got on my workstation at home or I need to run some software I do not have installed on my laptop. Therefore I would like to have a tool or a collection of tools to turn on my workstation remotely if it is switched off and to interact with it. I want to be able to access all files on it and transfer them to my laptop if needed or copy data from my laptop But sometimes it is also necessary to start a program on the workstation. Theses programs could be simple shell scripts or other command line tools but also software with a graphical user interface. The workstation is connected to a Wifi-Router that is always turned on. Security is import, no one else should be able to gain access or intercept the communication.

Accessing you own data is getting more and more important. Part of it is already accessible from "everywhere", when stored with your emails. But "the cloud" is not that advanced yet and so there are documents you only have on your computer. Imagine you switch place for a couple of days, and still want to be able to look something up. One possibility was to create a backup and store all documents you might need on an external drive - a tedious process, and will forget the <em>one important</em> document. You could also open a port for Windows' Remote Desktop connection, but for security reasons this is not a choice. There should be a secure way to access the data.