You have choices when it comes to sending large files. You can choose to take your chances with free file transfer solutions, but they can be risky. Using a managed file transfer (MFT) solution is a reliable way to secure your data and ensure it gets where it needs to be.
Here’s a few ways you can get peace-of-mind when sending your big files.
Send your large files with:
1. Guaranteed file delivery:
Scripts, homegrown solutions, or free open-source FTP tools may work for small ad-hoc files but are often unreliable for large files. Guaranteed file delivery ensures large files have the bandwidth/support (?) to carry the file transfer load.
2. Auto-resume and integrity checks:
When sending big files, auto-resume and integrity checks can help ensure the file is sent successfully despite any connectivity issues. An MFT solution keeps your file moving every step of the way and can even alert you when the file transfer completes or notify you if it fails, so you aren’t caught off-guard.
3. High availability:
With high availability you get the maximum amount of live time you need should your system fail, or you experience a network issue. High availability routes your file transfers to your remaining systems to keep business rolling.
4. Scaling:
This helps promote load balancing. File transfers are evenly distributed in clusters across your network to help avoid slow processing times or backups.
Related reading: Learn more about clustering and high availability
5. Ad hoc email:
If you don’t need to send large files regularly, you can ensure your occasional big files gets to your trading partners or clients through a secure email module, like GoAnywhere MFT’s Secure Mail. A secure email module lets your employees send files as a secure “package.” Unlike “regular” email attachments, there is no size or file type restrictions. Employees simply use the Secure Mail module or Outlook plug-in to draft their message. Files are encrypted for security and recipients receive an email with a unique link to download the message through a secure HTTPS connection. You can optionally require a password to protect the file transfer, add an expiration date, and lock down how many times a file can be downloaded.
6. Audit logs and reports:
GoAnywhere MFT tracks and reports all file transfer activity with detailed auditing and reporting functionality built in. You’ll find out before your intended recipient ever does, should a file ever fail to send.
7. Compliance requirements in place:
If your industry has data security compliance regulations you need to meet, you’ll want to send your files – large and small --with the audit logs and reports needed to stand up to scrutiny for privacy laws and more.
8. Encryption:
A robust managed file transfer solution encrypts your file data both at rest and in motion to heighten security.
9. Ease of use:
Why make it any harder than you have to for your organization to send large files? GoAnywhere’s single, user-friendly web browser dashboard lets authorized users can transfer big files anywhere, anytime.
10. Volume capabilities:
If you have big files and lots of them, choose a solution with high-visibility and scalability to ensure it can handle the load.
11. Speed:
Large file transfers sent over UDP data channels ensures your file gets to its destination quickly.
12. Cloud-based file-sharing tools:
Tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive certainly make file sharing simple. Most file sharing tools, however, limit your storage space depending on your plan. Additionally, using these tools outside of your organization can be risky. One alternative that offers similar cloud-based functions is GoDrive, designed to help both employees and partners collaborate. GoDrive allows for version tracking, comments and more for more organizational control and security.
13. SFTP, or FTP over SSH:
This file transfer protocol uses a secure channel to prevent unauthorized access while files are in motion. Secure SFTP or FTP over SSH features like user ID, password, and key authentication, helps ensure only authorized users can access your files.
14. FTPS, or FTP over SSL:
You can easily share those large files with your trading partners, employees, and clients after verifying a system’s authenticity when using this protocol.
15. AS2 or AS4:
This protocol is a common method for safely sharing EDI data of any file type. Messages sent with AS2 and AS4 can be compressed, signed, and encrypted for secure sharing.
Related Reading: Beyond FTP: Securing and Managing File Transfers
16. Secure Folders:
In today’s work environment, you want to provide access to the files they need no matter where employees happen to be working. With Secure Folders you can create folders for your authorized web users to access from anywhere. As long as your user has a browser and internet connection, large files can be quickly transferred via a secure HTTPS connection between users and your private network.
17. Automation:
Human error can wreak havoc on large file transfers. And, if you routinely send a lot of big files, you could be wasting time and resources if you don’t automate the process. A robust MFT solution provides file transfer workflows to streamline end-to-end file transfers. You can establish set dates, times, monitor shared folders and other triggers to allow your staff more time to work on higher level, business-critical work.
18. Batch file automation:
Take the worry out of sending those batch files when you incorporate batch file automation into your process. Secure FTP automation software can process file transfers in batch (and multiple batches can run at once), shaving the extra time needed to process file transfers manually.
19. SaaS:
If your organization isn’t ready to implement managed file transfer for large files on-premise, SaaS is one way to ensure those files get to their destination. With this cloud-based method of software delivery you can access your big file transfer application via internet with minimal set up and cost savings. Plus, you can take some of the burden off your IT staff as the provider handles maintenance and management of the solution.
