When taking off on a vacation, the less time spent traveling the better, right? A non-stop flight, versus one with iffy connections and layovers is the way to go whenever possible. There are fewer hiccups, and the overall experience is simply better. File transfers operating in a high latency network can be a bit like that multi-stop flight, with delays, missed connections, and a general bog down effect unless that data is sent with a file transfer tool capable of steering files through high latency environments reliably, securely, and automatically.
What is High Latency?
Latency is the amount of time needed for a signal or data packet to travel from a computer to a remote server and back again. Often referred to as lag, the amount of latency can be high, low, or somewhere in between. As the distance between the sending and receiving computers grows and the network complexity increases, latency becomes a greater issue. It can be frustrating for organizations needing to send large files quickly over long-distance networks. High latency can quickly bottleneck any TCP-based file transfer protocols, including FTP, SFTP and HTTP. Sharing large files globally without a file transfer acceleration tool might not be possible.
Why You Need a High Latency File Transfer Solution
Transferring files through a high latency environment can result in slow or unreliable transfers. Round-trip time (RTT) through high latency can be substantially longer with large or even growing files.
A growing file is a file still locked and being written by another application of device. For example, a camera capturing video will create a file on the disk that increases in size with time. FileCatalyst can send such files by monitoring the changes and keeping track of the headers.
Growing files aren’t the only situation where an accelerated file transfer solution can step in to smooth the process. Large files in high latency can also benefit.
With standard File Transfer Protocols (FTPs) a 1 TB of data from London to Vancouver could take upwards of 27 days. With an accelerated FileCatalyst tool, that transfer would take just a single day. While this example may be one of extreme file size (EXT) types, it clearly shows just how much faster accelerated file transfer can be when navigating high latency networks. FileCatalyst can share at speeds up to 10 Gbps.
Large media files such as a news broadcast or sports event are a good example of the need for a high latency file transfer solution. Video resolution and file sizes continue to increase for a richer viewer experience and broadcasting has advanced from standard to HD to 1080 P and now to 4K plus, so those file sizes have grown exponentially.
FileCatalyst was built to support the fast transfer of very large files at high bandwidth over long distances. Big data, media-rich files, databases, and more all benefit from FileCatalyst’s acceleration capabilities.
Related Reading: Ship to Shore Fast File Transfer: 3 Offshore Fleet Communication Case Studies
How to Quickly Transfer Files in a High Latency Environment
FileCatalyst uses User Datagram Protocol, or UDP-based technology, alongside its patented acceleration features, making the most of UDP’s speed and “connectionless” protocol, while adding reliability and rate control. This allows for file transfers hundreds of times faster than traditional FTPs, even in high latency or packet loss environments, and it solves the potential issue of file transfers becoming unreliable where there is any form of packet loss.
Data is broken into blocks with FileCatalyst, but unlike typical Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), with FileCatalyst, there is no delay while waiting to receive a block of data before starting subsequent blocks of data. Transmission is initiated immediately, even if previous blocks have not yet been acknowledged. Regardless of network latency, data transmission remains constant with FileCatalyst, enabling full line speed data transfers and a steady stream of uninterrupted data.
How Fast is High Latency File Transfer with FileCatalyst?
Our file transfer speed calculator clearly shows you how fast a file can get from one point to another around the world with accelerated file transfer. Play around with different inputs of file transfer loads and see just how fast high latency file transfers can be with the right solution in place.
And you don’t need to wait for a file to be “finished” before sending it with FileCatalyst. Instead, the solution can begin transferring media files as they are still being encoded – perfect for industries such as broadcast media and live sports – where the action is often happening continents away from remote servers.
Case Study: Accelerating Olympic Winter Games Footage from Sochi, Russia to Stamford, CT
Benefits of Accelerated File Transfer for High Latency File Transfers
In addition to deftly maneuvering through high latency, FileCatalyst can perform single archive transfers where multiple files can be zipped into a single archive and transferred via a single file. That file is then automatically unzipped upon reaching its destination. Multiple network connections can be utilized to send more files at once throughout the transfer process. Plus, FileCatalyst helps users:
- Reduce wait times for file delivery/receipt
- Optimize existing infrastructure
- Improve collaboration across the enterprise and around the globe
- Secure data transfers with industry-standard encryption
- Simplify administrative and end user processes
See FileCatalyst in Action for Yourself
If you’ve got a need for speed and for transferring files in high latency, FileCatalyst can get your files where they need to be, fast and reliably, no matter the network environment. A free demo can show you all the advantages of accelerated file transfers.