Today internet has become one stop station for all our needs. From business transactions to personal communications, everything is internet based. At times we are required to share, download or transfer large sized files. Even though internet connections are pretty reliable these days, still there are those once in a while possibilities when your network will fail you and your file will either be corrupted or wasted on completing the download. In some basic protocols like FTP, an interruption in connection will stop the file transfer at once. In this article we mention some tips that you may employ to make sure you have a secure file sharing experience.
Tips On Secure File Sharing
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Fragment the file
If you are using simple FTP protocol for file transfer, this is your best option. There are many software available free of cost that will divide your large file in to smaller fragments. You can also specify the size of each fragment. If you have an unreliable internet connection, it’s better to fragment the large file in as small pieces as possible.
The idea behind this concept is that you will be able to transfer these smaller fragments more effectively. If there is a drop on the line, you will not be required to start the whole file transfer process again, just start with the fragment that didn’t made through. You can download the software from internet and the best thing is that they are free.
Winzip is one such utility software available for free. Fragmenting the file also provides you a basic level of security as fragments are hard to interpret in to a complete file unless the receiver has the sequence for re-assembling them.
Use MFT service
This is probably the most practical solution for secure file sharing. MFT stands for Managed file transfer. Employing a managed file transfer will not only assure you of secure file sharing but will also provide you advanced levels of security and error checking. Most of the MFT services allow the users to temporarily halt the transfer process and then resume it at their will. Such features are not available in the basic FTP model.
As the facility of pause and resume is available at your finger tips, it is very unlikely that you will have to re initiate the whole process again. MFT based services also provide you with network analysis features so that you can assess whether your network is ready for the file transfer or not. Some advanced applications also allow the user to share the file simultaneously with more than one user.
The facilities of MFT based services are not just limited to simple file transferring, they can even allow you to stream your video live and receive audio or video feeds. There are some advanced services where you don’t actually need to transfer the file itself, you can connect to the other system remotely and browse for your data as you would do on your own computer. MFT services have often been hailed as the best option available for secure file sharing.
John Rowe is a network expert. He provides network security consulting services and has written many articles on secure file transfer.
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