Synametrics Technologies

A smart way of sharing large files over the Internet

Abstract

Sending and receiving large files internally and externally has become an integral part of a company's communication system. Companies employ different file sharing solutions for exchanging data and facilitating collaboration between customers, clients, employees and partners. Most prevalent file sharing solutions include email services, FTP, web-based services and in many cases, mailing documents via overnight shipping services. Each of these solutions comes with their own set of advantages and disadvantages - some drawbacks may lead to security risk and limitations, leading to a less successful handshake between the company and its client.

We understands this!

File sharing solutions

Email

One of the most convenient file sharing solutions is email. Without any setup or specific software, companies can share data within their domain or outside their domain (clients, customers) by attaching the specific file with the email message.

Companies that rely on email to send and receive large files are however struggling with issues like:

• Email service limits the size of the files being sent and received.
• Large file transfers via email may result in slower mail delivery.
• Daily backup of mail servers will require larger storage.

However the most critical issue that the company currently face is that the email attachments are at a security risk - not due to encryption or security rules imposed by mail server system, but due to the fact that the companies itself are monitoring their employees outbound email and exposing the email attachments to their monitoring staff. Additionally, emails are typically routed through two or more SMTP servers before landing in recipient's inbox multiplying the risk factor even further.

FTP

FTP simply handles copying of file from one system to another. Being client-server protocol, one system needs to be a FTP client while the other needs to be a FTP server for successful transfer of files. Even though this method is simple and has been around for many years, it does come with its own set of disadvantages:

• Most FTP sites are not encrypted, and using an FTP site requires installing and learning how to use FTP software
• FTP sites are blocked by many corporate firewalls to prevent unauthorized users from getting onto the network. However, this also leads to prevention of legitimate users from accessing company resources. Modifying firewall rules for users to share the files weakens the effectiveness of the firewalls. This is also costly and prone to errors as one need to modify the rules based on each user.
• FTP is commonly run on two ports, 20 and 21, and runs exclusively over TCP. For each file transfer, one of the ports is utilized as FTP command stream and the other port is utilized as data stream. Using FTP for large file transfers opens up two ports making it more vulnerable for hacking. Similarly, while data are being transferred via the data stream, the control stream sits idle. This can cause problems with large data transfers through firewalls which time out sessions after lengthy periods of idleness. While the file may well be successfully transferred, the control session can be disconnected by the firewall, causing an error to be generated.

Ground Shipping

Overnight shipping services work well when your company is strictly in one time zone with an 8 to 5 working hours. Once your company adopts a globally diverse environment and the working hours are time zone independent, overnight shipping will not be effective for file sharing.

Web-based services

One of the most robust, secure and competent solutions available for file sharing are web-based services. Web-based file sharing boasts:

• Secure data transfer - usually a 128-bit SSL encryption imposed.
• Fast with large amount of data transfer - The size of the data in many cases is unlimited or set very high.
• Less requirements for the file sharing - only web access is needed for the transaction.
• No more roadblocks (slow speed, large storage, etc.) in the email server due to large attachments.
• 24x7 access to the files resulting in secure file sharing over the internet.

Even though web-based services facilitates collaboration of customers, vendors, design teams and partners in a true global sense by sharing data or highly sensitive documents, there are many companies that allow web-based services with restrictions:

• Some companies provide a file sharing solution with by uploading/downloading the files on a file sharing server - a third party file server that acts as a centric point for you and your customers. Even with the best available security and encryption techniques, your files are visible to the administrators of the file servers. This can result in a security breach and high risk contention for sharing sensitive data. This makes the handshake between you and your customer for sharing highly sensitive data a security breach.
• Some web-based service solution restricts the size of the data that is to be shared. This requires one to utilize more methodologies to compress very large files before they can be shared.

SynaMan

SynaMan is a Remote File Manager and a robust replacement for FTP allowing remote file transfer and remote file management. With features like unlimited size of file transfer, global access of files from anywhere (place-independent and time-independent), easy methodology for compressing/decompressing the files and remote clipboard operations, SynaMan is currently leading the technology for its file sharing operation.

SynaMan software needs to be installed on one machine in your network - which acts as a "host" machine. Users (remote or local) then connect to this host via internet connection and using their web browser, they can manage, view, upload or download files in a secure manner.

SynaMan Features

• SynaMan eliminates the MIDDLE MAN aka Online File Server or File Sharing Service Agent. With SynaMan, you upload/download the files directly to your machine without the intervention of a third party file server.
• SynaMan eliminates the file size limitation. The size of the file is not a restriction. You no longer need a worry about transferring 2 GB or 10 GB. You can transfer any type of data - that is PERTINENT to your company and your clients.
• SynaMan removes the restriction of a specific host, operating system or a web-browser. A truly global solution, SynaMan works on any machine running any operating system. SynaMan does not require any prerequisite software to be installed on the system. Everything required is run SynaMan is included and gets configured automatically during installation.
• SynaMan acts as a Remote File Manager. A feature that allows you to manage your files remotely (office or home, locally or en route). Not only can one access the files, but can also move, copy, upload, download files from any machine via a intuitive web interface.
• SynaMan provides a web interface with built-in clipboard facility. That allows one to utilize all features of clipboard (cut, copy, paste) to move files from one machine to another.
• SynaMan realizes the importance of security during a file transfer. Hence, SynaMan provides a self-signed SSL certificate with its product so that encryption for file transfer and administrative commands is made easy.
• SynaMan can be used by unlimited users; however the user accounts are protected by user id and passwords. Administrators can manage the access of files and folders by customizing the read/write access of the user account.

Check out the complete list of SynaMan features at http://web.synametrics.com/SynaManFeatures.htm