FTP Alternative

mannyhenriquez · 2015-10-14T17:16:41.000Z

Hello Everyone,

I am looking into moving away from internal FTP server to another offsite solution. Something a little more secure, i started my research with Box, dropbox, and sharepoint( sharepoint wouldn’t be until next year when we transition into 365). I was wondering if you guys have an alternative you use or would rather pursue.

To help you understand a little better. We have a server acting as an FTP site using Filezilla. Our Marketing team uses it to upload their graphics, presentations and other work items. Then if need be they share these files with outside vendors or companies that wish to collaborate in the project. These companies use credentials i have set up specifically for vendors and outside use. These credentials only have access to certain folders but i feel this is not as secure as it should be, but at the same time i want something a little more advanced and easy to use. Which is why i want to look for another solution.

Thanks in advanced.

brittany-for-box · 2015-10-14T17:45:43.000Z

So I think Box would be a great solution to your problems, especially because you can set granular permissions based on external contacts and such. What all do you know about Box, and what information can I get for you?

kathryn-for-dropbox · 2015-10-14T19:06:26.000Z

Hey Manny! I know you have looked into Dropbox, but I wanted to jump in and confirm that Dropbox for Business would work for your situation. As long as your vendors have a Dropbox account (even Basic ones), the marketing team can share specific folders with them. They will only have access to those folders and can add things to it as well as use the assets the marketing team adds. Your vendors might run into space limitations, though, if they have Basic accounts and the shared folders have a lot of content. However, you can always use Dropbox for Business licenses for vendors. Let me know if you have any questions for me!

brettjeffries · 2015-10-14T19:11:23.000Z

MannyH:

To help you understand a little better. We have a server acting as an FTP site using Filezilla. Our Marketing team uses it to upload their graphics, presentations and other work items. Then if need be they share these files with outside vendors or companies that wish to collaborate in the project. These companies use credentials i have set up specifically for vendors and outside use. These credentials only have access to certain folders but i feel this is not as secure as it should be, but at the same time i want something a little more advanced and easy to use. Which is why i want to look for another solution.

We do all this with a NAS. No monthly costs that way

josipsabic · 2015-10-14T19:27:49.000Z

OwnCloud?

DailyLlama · 2015-10-15T07:56:02.000Z

We do this with Sharepoint, running it as an Extranet.

jaym27 · 2015-10-15T08:03:23.000Z

NAS is the way to go onceoff cost and you are sorted

kyar6002 · 2015-10-15T08:06:05.000Z

We use Serv-U MFT.

nelsonsa · 2015-10-15T08:27:11.000Z

Egnyte is a great solution for this. I’ve used it in both my current and previous roles. They allow you to create accounts external to your org with specific restrictions too.

anon72037846 · 2015-10-15T09:00:17.000Z

brettjeffries:

MannyH:

To help you understand a little better. We have a server acting as an FTP site using Filezilla. Our Marketing team uses it to upload their graphics, presentations and other work items. Then if need be they share these files with outside vendors or companies that wish to collaborate in the project. These companies use credentials i have set up specifically for vendors and outside use. These credentials only have access to certain folders but i feel this is not as secure as it should be, but at the same time i want something a little more advanced and easy to use. Which is why i want to look for another solution.

We do all this with a NAS. No monthly costs that way

Could you give us an idea of what sort of NAS make/model and setup you went for?

As this and ownCloud both sound interesting!

christadijanac · 2015-10-15T09:06:58.000Z

We’re using Cerberus as an SFTP solution but it can do FTP and FTP/S.

kz650 · 2015-10-15T09:35:31.000Z

BTSync - best thing since sliced-bread… if it only was free (for more than 1 share)

Second best thing is sftp

prkelly · 2015-10-15T09:54:28.000Z

We utilize Dropbox here and thee and have not had a problem.

tjollimore · 2015-10-15T10:05:42.000Z

FTP is only as secure as you make it…

I would go with the NAS solution as a holdover, if they want it immediately. Then switch to SharePoint when you go to O365. I know it makes no sense with the added monthly cost, but having talked to a number of executives, they all seem to be brainwashed with ‘Cloud’. You’ll still be seen as a hero.

Shakes head

michael-synametrics · 2015-10-15T10:19:58.000Z

Hi,

I would also recommend you try SynaMan .

Here is how it works:

⦁ You install SynaMan on a file server. It could be Windows, Linux or Mac.

⦁ Create virtual folders and users. Create mappings (file permissions) between users an folders

⦁ Configure firewall so users can access the machine using HTTP(S) from the Internet

⦁ Once done, users will be able to upload/download files from this file server from anywhere. Transfers are 100% secure when using SSL. No third-party will ever see your files, hence no privacy issues.

⦁ SynaMan is a product - not a service. This means you pay once and use it for ever. No monthly fees, no limits on number of users, no limits on amount of data transferred.

⦁ It costs around $99 for a perpetual license

marcelfortin · 2015-10-15T10:24:42.000Z

We use the Citrix ShareFile product, works great and we can also request files from clients and they can upload files back to us. The main reason we use it is because of the Outlook mail client integration. Users can e-mail clients download links/ request files links right in Outlook and it inserts in the e-mail body of the message a simple hyperlink to download or upload files. Could not be simpler…

You can also use an FTP program to also obtain files from ShareFile or even setup maybe an automated upload each night of the marketing materials so they are always up to date. The product does have a monthly cost, but the ease of use is worth it for us at the moment.

patriciagreen · 2015-10-15T11:06:30.000Z

For our architectural/construction bidding (many outside contractors) I took a spare (old) desktop and loaded the Turnkey Linux appliance of Red Mine on it. We had a spare public IP that was assigned to it. Very easy to set up multiple users including the option for self registration with administrator approval before that registration is activated. Red Mine also allows pretty granular control of who has access to which folders and with what permissions. It has worked great for us - much better than our previous FTP site. It is not perfect for everything or every use but has allowed us to easily share files with outside people while maintaining control over who see what, who can upload what, and who can download what and at basically no cost.

venkat-filecloud · 2015-10-15T11:24:28.000Z

You might want to check our FileCloud solution http://www.getfilecloud.com . You can host it on-premise or in cloud (AWS and Azure). The pricing is very reasonable. You will get complete control over the system and brand the interface as well. If you have any questions please feel free to message me.

aaronrodriguez · 2015-10-15T11:37:00.000Z

Should also look at file transporter… It’s basically a dropbox/box that you host yourself and none of the data leaves your network unless you choose it.

adaministrator · 2015-10-15T11:45:02.000Z

We had FTP when I started working here. Not a big fan of that for Company files. We set up an Ubuntu Server with owncloud and have turned back. It is so awesome. All the people that use it have the Windows client on their desktop and can manage the files locally. Have about 50 users now and 40gb’s and it is always up.