SRCS: Secure Remote Computing Services

Secure Remote Computing Services (SRCS) is a critical information technology (IT) infrastructure funded by the National Science Foundation as part of the Information Technology Research (ITR) for National Priorities Program. SRCS moves all application logic and data from insecure end-user devices, which attackers can easily corrupt, steal and destroy, to autonomic server farms in physically secure, remote data centers that can rapidly adapt to computing demands especially in times of crisis. Users can then access their computing state from anywhere, anytime, using simple, stateless Internet-enabled devices. SRCS builds on the hypothesis that a combination of lightweight process migration, remote display technology, overlay-based security and trust-management access control mechanisms, driven by an autonomic management utility, can result in a significant improvement in overall system reliability and security. The results of this proposed effort is enabling SRCS implementations to provide a myriad of benefits, including persistence and continuity of business logic, minimizing the cost of localized computing failures, robust protection against attacks, and transparent user mobility with global computing access. SRCS in time of crisis specifically addresses a major concern of national and homeland security. The substantially lowered total cost of ownership of applications running on SRCS is anticipated to dramatically reduce the gap between IT haves and have nots.