December 4, 2012

What's New?

FileCatalyst Selected by Bell Media for Accelerated Content Delivery

Unlimi-Tech Software, the pioneer in accelerated file transfers and the creator of FileCatalyst, the world’s leading accelerated file transfer solution, is pleased to announce the selection of its software by Bell Media for its broadcast properties, including CTV (read more)

FileCatalyst Server File Details Caching

In order to deal with the issues resulting from large file sets on high latency networks, FileCatalyst Server will be adding a new feature whereby the administrator can set the server to cache details about the files it makes available for download and have the cache update in the background while the application is running. This feature is perfect for servers watching fairly static data that lives on a remote drive.

The feature is enabled as part of our advanced view. The user can either enable the cache to update in the background or leave that option unselected and have the cache get filled as data is accessed. While the latter will reduce overall load on the system, the background cache will ensure that the information in the cache is updated. The frequency of the update will depend on how much other data there is.

In addition to specifying how the cache is filled with data, the user also has the option of specifying the size of the cache. This allows the user to limit the memory used by the cache and ensure that only the most frequently accessed files have their details cached by the system.

Finally, the Advanced File Details Caching tab also provides the details on the approximate maximum memory usage of the cache as well as the current size of the cache. These numbers are update live so if the server is updating in the background, you can see the number increase.

Feature of the Month

New Connectivity Diagnostic Applet

It's not a surprise that when all network ports are properly opened, FileCatalyst UDP based protocol will be fast. But what happens when firewalls or proxy servers get in a way?

Starting with version 3.1 of FileCatalyst Direct, we provide a connection diagnostics Java applet. With this new tool users can easily identify any network issues that could prevent them from taking full advantage of FileCatalyst protocol. After entering the server connectivity information, the user will be informed what protocol (if any) will be possible from their location. For example, blocked UDP traffic will be reflected on the report by a failed UDP Outgoing and Incoming test.

Click here to try the new connectivity diagnostic applet.

Tips and Tricks

Internet Explorer 9 and FileCatalyst Applets

When a FileCatalyst applet is loaded in clients computer the Internet Explorer 9 may show following warning: "FileCatalyst wants to use an old version of java (1.6.0_18) that is not installed on your system. We recommend running this application with the latest version of Java on your computer".

This is caused by IE not being not able to properly interpret certain components of JavsScript code. To fix this problem a small change should be made to applet configuration file (for example fcdownload.js).

Open configuration file in a plain text editor and find section with IF statement. The statement will have two meta tags: "<OBJECT name=......" and "<APPLET name=". The IF statement should be modified to use only <APPLET> tag.

For example all components of the IF statement can be commented out except line: document.write("<APPLET name=....

For a more in-depth look at this solution, click here.

From the Blog

New and useful posts

More aggressive transfer settings in v3.1 In FileCatalyst v3.1, we decided to bump our default settings to give you more performance right from the start. Learn more about our new congestion control settings.

If big data is the new oil, accelerated file transfer is the pipeline! "Big data" is the latest buzz word among the IT community. There is much talk about analyzing data to save money and improve efficiency. However to take advantage of the data in a timely manner, faster file transfer is essential.

Customer Spotlight

Rain Networks

Founded in 2002, Brazil-based Rain Network interconnects independent cinema theatres in a global digital network. With offices in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, New York and London, the company transmits films to theatres worldwide in digital format, by broadband lines.

Rain Networks implemented FileCatalyst Direct for maximum throughput for large point-to-point file transfer applications, when transferring digitized movies. FileCatalyst has also made it possible for Rain Network to improve its operations while offering clients a more competitive price.

"FileCatalyst’s transmission technology allows Rain Network to use the maximum bandwidth available on a particular connection, keeps the integrity of the file, and cuts the transmission time down to one to two hours." ––Fernando Fortes, Technical Manager, Rain Networks