January 10, 2013

Feature of the Month

HTTP Transfers

The HTTP protocol (an integrated component of the FileCatalyst Server since 2010) allows FileCatalyst Direct clients to fall back to HTTP-based transfer when ‘auto’ mode is used, or to default to HTTP in certain client scenarios.

When configuring FileCatalyst Direct to auto-detect the transfer mode, the protocol will fall back from accelerated UDP to multi-stream TCP and then to single-stream TCP. The servlet adds one more layer: fallback to HTTP.

While HTTP-based transfers do not benefit from acceleration, the protocol is almost never blocked by corporate firewalls. Provided that a user's computer is connected to the Internet, they should be able to transfer files over HTTP. This ensures that HTTP transfers can always take place regardless of the network infrastructure in complex corporate environments.

The HTTP transfers feature is a licensed feature of FileCatalyst Server. Contact your sales representative or contact info@filecatalyst.com for details.

What's New

FileCatalyst Workflow: Adding notification lists

A new feature recently introduced to FileCatalyst Workflow is the ability to add a notification list to a workflow. This capability allows users to submit a comma delimited list of contacts that require certain notifications.Then users, as well as the sender, may be notified by Workflow as events occur on a submitted job.

A great example of a use case for this feature would be a manager in a video post-production company who must be alerted when clients receive digital copies of their finished videos. With notification lists, a manager is able to add themself to the list and receive email alerts when their clients (or clients' clients) receive and download their files. The manager could then use this notification to either follow up with the client, deliver an invoice to the client, or iniate other actions based on the notification.

Tips and Tricks

Custom memory configuration

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".

Click here for configuring memory allocated to FileCatalyst Webmail and FileCatalyst Workflow.

Click here for configuring memory allocated to FileCatalyst Direct.

From the Blog

New and useful posts

FileCatalyst Applets: Persisting File Transfers Across Site Learn how to add FileCatalyst Applets to your site in such a way that file transfers are not interrupted during site navigation.

FileCatalyst Webmail and Workflow updated to 4.8.2 We are pleased to announce the latest release in our FileCatalyst Webmail and FileCatalyst Workflow product lines! Software highlights include: Increased functionality for regular admins, custom HTML in order forms, compatibility with latest version of FileCatalyst Direct, and notifications for parties beyond the recipient and sender.

Customer Spotlight

Bell Media Inc.

Bell Media, Canada's premier multimedia company, offers a multitude of content to viewers, including news, sports, and entertainment programs for television, radio, and digital platforms. The company has regular exchanges of material to and from outside parties, making file transfer a critical and continual process.

With many file transfers occurring with outside production units, FileCatalyst provided the FileCatalyst Workflow and FileCatalyst Direct Server solutions for accelerated and managed file transfer. FileCatalyst Workflow manages the content submission process for Bell Media by enabling contributors to easily submit large files, with full tracking at every stage through a browser interface. FileCatalyst Direct is an accelerated file transfer solution made available by installing the FileCatalyst Server and one of many client side options.

"Our file transfers are now much faster and more secure than with our previous server. We also needed a new, simpler approach to file transfer that users of any level could understand and FileCatalyst was able to deliver that." –- Mathew Sherman Senior Manager, Creative Technology, Bell Media