For any company, business or organisation operating today, sharing files is a huge part of
everyday business.
Often this can be a cumbersome task, and the media files shared within them typically have to
be compressed to a lower quality to be sent, or documents have to be sent separately because
they are too large to be sent at once.
SFTP has long been the most effective solution to this problem. However, not all SFTP clients
are created equal. This article will explore how SFTP can help businesses and individuals file
share large files and look at the unique ways in which our open-source SFTP client, FileDrop,
helps improve this process.
Why File Sharing Solutions are a Necessity
Before diving into the intricacies of FileDrop, it is important to establish why file-sharing solutions
are a necessity in today’s digital age.
Security
The first thing that comes to mind on the topic of file-sharing solutions is security.
Often, sensitive data is transferred through large files, so it is important to know that any
data-sharing services that you opt to use prioritise data security.
Protecting sensitive information is also paramount in any size of file transfer, from the smallest
upload to the largest file transfer.
Unfortunately, in today’s digital age, there are a multitude of cyber criminals who are always
searching for ways in which they can exploit insecure or vulnerable weaknesses within digital
systems so that they can gain access.
Not only can this result in identity theft, but can also have other serious consequences, ranging
from financial losses to blackmail and other heinous crimes.
Therefore, ensuring that you have a secure file transfer solution is absolutely essential if part of
your job role involves dealing with sensitive data which has to be transferred in one form or
another across the Internet.
File Size Issues
In contrast to personal file sharing, businesses often need to send very large files. This is
usually either because the data packets are very large, or that the media that is being
transferred needs to be of a high resolution and uncompressed.
The implication this has for the sharing of these files is that, as the files are large, the file
sharing needs to be that much more efficient in order to complete it.
SFTP achieves this well, but most clients approach this by sending the whole file in one transfer – which can be very slow. We’ll talk more about this later, but speed is one of the key benefits of FileDrop over other SFTP clients.
Time-Saving
Another reason that a file-sharing system like FileDrop is necessary is because it saves time
One of the most impressive features of FileDrop is the speed at which it can undertake transfers
when compared to other SFTP clients.
This is largely thanks to Jadaptive’s cutting-edge push technology which makes for a secure yet
speedy transfer process.
And then once they are downloaded, you have to rename them all and save them in separate
folders before moving on with your day.
This can be a very time-consuming process, but with a file-sharing service, the files that you are
sent are easily accessible and quick to download.
What is FileDrop?
Simply put, FileDrop is an open-source SFTP client focused on user-friendly interface and
speed.
The main advantage of FileDrop over other SFTP clients, aside from the open source nature, is
the speed at which it can execute transfers. It achieves transfer speeds of up to 3x by breaking
files into many independent fragments, and uploading them simultaneously, before re-bundling
them at the target destination.
How Does FileDrop Work?
The following section will explain how FileDrop works in a step-by-step guide so that you can
see for yourself just how easy it is to use.
1: Download the File
Simply visit this page and download the installation file. You can select the relevant operating
system version and then simply hit ‘Download’.
2: Follow Setup Wizard
The setup wizard will guide you through the installation process.
3: Share Files
At this point you are ready to start sharing files.
FileDrop Use Cases
SFTP clients are used by all sorts of businesses and users. The true benefits of FileDrop can
only be fully explored in the context of these individual use cases.
Here are some of the most common use cases.
Creatives
Anyone who works in the arts will know the struggles of trying to send large files that always end
up compressed and or decreased quality.
However, with FileDrop’s no-size limitation policy, this issue can be rectified almost immediately.
You can send long videos, or other multi-media files with ease, without compressing the quality
of them, so that your clients can see your work in all of its glory. What’s more, you can complete
the transfers in a fraction of the time compared to other SFTP clients.
Inter/Intra-Business Dealings
Collaboration is one of the primary benefits of FileDrop.
For example, a freelance photographer or videographer who has created visual content for a
business will want to send the files safely, securely and quickly in order to minimise the risk of
them being either compressed or corrupted during the transfer process.
FileDrop is the ideal tool for this, because not only is it a safe method for sending large files, but
thanks to its push function, can send files quicker than many other competitors on the market.
Academia
Schools, colleges and universities have to process and store large volumes of files. This used to
be in the form of storage cabinets and physical archives. Now, this is achieved through off-site
servers.
In order to transfer large volumes of student assignments, projects and data in a fast and secure
way to these servers, educational administrators would usually use an SFTP client. FileDrop
allows them to achieve this cheaply, quickly and securely.
Data Science
Technology has allowed data science to evolve at an incredible rate. ‘Big Data’ has facilitated
numerous advances. However, processing and transferring these large data sets presents a
transfer problem.
Again, Filedrop can reduce the file transfer time of these files by many multiples, speeding up
the whole process and making analysts more efficient.
Web Development
Web development is probably the most common use of an SFTP client. So why would
developers benefit from FileDrop over other solutions?
Again, speed is the key here. Developers will often work on a local server and only push their
changes to their development environment every few hours. However, with the increased
transfer speeds offered by FileDrop, they are able to push changes more frequently. This
increases collaboration, and agility will ultimately help digital projects to be delivered more
quickly and efficiently
Conclusions
Given that it is open-source, fast and secure, we feel that FileDrop is an obvious choice for most
enterprise SFTP use cases.
If you’d like to give it a go, please don’t hesitate to download the files relevant to your operating
system from our website.