The Challenge
If you have ever used File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Common Internet File System (CIFS), Network File System (NFS) or Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections to server shares to move large files between separate locations, perhaps over a wide area network (WAN), like me you have probably found yourself asking “gosh – there must be a better way to do this…”
Anyone who must routinely transfer media files, image files, software installer packages or large data package files to and from client sites or must deliver the results of their projects to their customer’s servers knows that while the Internet has eliminated the cost of using courier services to transfer material, and in many cases, lowered the transfer time, it has introduced its own concerns. Unpredictable transfer speed, server maintenance, security issues and optimising the use of a network connection have all contributed to the frustration of using traditional protocols to move significant quantities of data from A to B with any frequency.
Some very helpful Internet “Cloud” services such as YouSendIt have made the transfer of items that are too large to be emailed very straightforward however these use the standard internet protocols to move the data from a computer desktop into their servers and from their servers down to the destination on request. This is a good and economical model for perhaps periodically transferring moderate sized data packages but this mechanism may not be optimal for the needs of organisations who for example are creating multiple multi-gigabyte media files which must be transferred between set and production house, sites, bureaus or affiliate offices.
One company that has tackled the conundrum of how best to transfer data packages over Internet links in the most efficient and secure way is Aspera with their fasp technology. This American organisation’s products are the result of ground-breaking research into the behaviour of network protocols when used to transfer large units of data. This research has revealed that larger networks are not ideal for moving quantities of data over distance and require specially designed mechanisms in order to optimise the transfer of quantities of data predictably and securely.
How does fasp technology work? Well, to answer that I thought that it might be useful to explain some network terminology before we get into that. Continue reading →
