NAB 2015, Las Vegas, #SL8505: Unlimi-Tech Software, Inc., an Emmy® Award winning pioneer in managed file transfers and the creator of FileCatalyst, an accelerated file transfer solution, has announced that it will unveil updated FileCatalyst file transfer capabilities for those using the Amazon S3 online file storage web service at NAB 2015.
The benefits of Amazon S3 cloud storage versus local storage are that it provides high bandwidth data access, scalability, durability, and redundancy. However, file transfers into S3 can be slow because of inherent latency issues, a problem that becomes even more prevalent as file sizes increase.
Irrespective of file size and latency issues, users still expect a fast, reliable file transfer solution. FileCatalyst’s patented UDP-based protocol is immune to packet loss and network latency, which makes it a faster, more efficient file transfer choice. Released at NAB Show 2015, FileCatalyst now exploits recent improvements in Amazon S3’s infrastructure by tightly integrating FileCatalyst Direct, a suite of client and server applications that utilizes FileCatalyst’s UDP file transfer technology.
Multipart HTTP file uploads by FileCatalyst are performed within the Amazon S3 infrastructure. Everything outside the infrastructure exploits FileCatalyst UDP-based acceleration. FileCatalyst’s use of UDP in the higher latency WAN area, coupled with lower latency S3 and Amazon EC2 areas, adds further performance improvements to FileCatalyst’s already blazing transfer speeds.
FileCatalyst CEO Chris Bailey said, “When we decided to integrate with Amazon S3, we didn't want the user experience to differ from using any other file system in FileCatalyst. All key functions are supported, like MD5 checksums, resuming interrupted transfers, and of course industry leading security and reliability. For our integration, we leveraged the most advanced features of the Amazon S3 SDK, like advanced copy and multipart upload features. This provides unrivaled performance and ease of use. Users no longer need to worry about dealing directly with an object store like S3. FileCatalyst does it for you, and does it seamlessly.”
Another powerful feature of the FileCatalyst server is the ability to define virtual files and virtual folders. For example, a file or folder hosted in S3 can be made available to a particular user by creating a virtual file or sub-folder that points to a defined file system, which can then be assigned to a user who will see all locally stored files and folders as well as those sitting on S3, any of which can now be downloaded. If preferred, files and folders from both realms can also be assigned to a group for access or sharing. The underlying processes are all utterly transparent to the user.
Baileyconcludes, “The FileCatalyst server looks at S3 as it would any other storage, which means the user doesn’t have to change anything to take advantage of the upload/download speed and workflow management that FileCatalyst’s integration with S3 provides.”
Prior to NAB, members of the FileCatalyst team will also be attending JB&A’s pre-NAB Digital and Media Workflow event on April 11 and 12 at the Westin Las Vegas Hotel, as well as Avid Connect from April 10 to 12 at Caesar’s Palace. In addition, FileCatalyst president and co-founder, John Tkaczewski will be sharing his expertise in a session entitled “Network and Connection Issues Facing the Military and Government in the Transfer of Data”, on Wednesday April 15 at 11:30am in meeting room S225.
