Sharing Files over the Internet
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One of the main advantages of the internet, is being able to work collaboratively with colleagues who may be 1000s of miles away, or just allow you to continue working whilst away from the office. In order to do this, you need to be able to share files with your colleagues whilst at the same time, ensuring that they remain secure. When most people talk of internet file sharing, they think of Peer 2 Peer networks, such as Limewire which enables users to download a vast library of files which are stored on the 100s of computers connected to the network. However, this lacks any form of security and because the files can appear on many computers, partially downloaded and with different filenames (and sometimes incorporating additional spyware and virus software), there is no guarantee as to the actual version of the file which you download. There is a slight advantage in that the Peer to Peer system does spread the workload amongst a myriad of computers, enabling people to try and make money through sharing their computers with the networks and also allowing you to download a file from several computers at the same time. If the problem is the need to access files on your own network remotely, this can be achieved using Virtual Private Networking, but this needs a network administrator to set up and you must be able to clearly identify the computers which are being used to access the network remotely, rather than specific users. If you have one main computer that you may wish yourself to access remotely from any computer, and to download files or you wish to be able to have full access to a computer's facilities such as printers, system tools and configuration, then you need to look at software such as GoToMyPC which provides a secure direct link between the two computers. However, if someone is using the PC which contains the files, then they will lose control whilst you are accessing the computer and so this is not very useful for collaborating online. The benefits of collaborative working can be seen when used with systems such as Forbidden Technologies' FORScene program which allows several people to edit videos through a standard internet browser (provided it has JAVA enabled) even whilst the video is still being uploaded by a separate person.
The system is easy to use and you can pay for additional storage space if required. However, there are limits to this system in that files are not locked whilst one person is amending them (as they need to be downloaded onto your local computer). One advantage to using this system however, is the fact that you can provide (or amend) the information stored for each file, including adding a rating - normal users cannot access files rated as "adult only" without changing their preferences (although it is a pity that there is no form of checking allowed for this, such as credit card checks or additional password). A better solution is provided by Diino - the user interface is much more user friendly and looks closer to a standard folder under Windows - anyone who needs to access the shared files installs a small (2MB) application onto their computer and is able to run files directly from the server without needing to download them, as well as use copy & paste to move files to or from the shared resource. As files are run directly, they are locked whilst in use by any user, similar to sharing files on a networked PC. As with Streamload you can email links to any files held within the storage space which can then be downloaded to someone else's machine. However, you need to specify which folders to share - having done this (and assigned a specific password for that folder) you can then email a link to the folder to another user, who can either open the folder (and files) in a web browser, or their own Diino software interface, using your username and the folder specific password. |