Transferring large files over the internet has never been a simple task. Anyone that has ever tried to transfer a file larger than 100MB can vouch for the slow transfer speeds, multiple disconnects, data corruption, complexity of the task and security issues surrounding FTP. The same problem exists for web developers trying to implement web-based file transfer functionality....

There seems to always be some confusion as to when to use the HTTP POST versus the HTTP PUT method for REST services. Most developers will try to associate CRUD operations directly to HTTP methods. I will argue that this is not correct and one can not simply associate the CRUD concepts to the HTTP methods. That is: Create => HTTP PUT Retrieve => HTTP GET Update =>...

FileCatalyst exhibited at the IBC (International Broadcasting Convention) show in Amsterdam, the expo portion having run from September 7–11. It is one of the biggest shows of its type in the world, and I always find it interesting to be a part of the team in attendance. With IBC 2012 behind us, here are some parting thoughts: It was hectic, and I mean that in the best way....

In the world of file transfer acceleration, there are multiple approaches using both WAN Optimization appliances or pure software solutions like FileCatalyst. Hardware sometimes give the impression of perceived value; there is a tangibility that you just don’t get with software. But can a hardware solution on its own really replace software for file transfer acceleration? The...

There exist a number of open source projects trying to tackle accelerated file transfer via UDP. Some solutions are more mature than others and also use different technologies to solve the same problem of large data transfer over WAN. This article should provide the reader enough information to compare the different solutions and gauge if an open source project could be used...

The life cycle of a file transfer follows this basic pattern: Image                 The first and last step in the diagram, Disk IO, were covered in Part 1 of the series: Improving Throughput Part 1: Disk IO. Disk IO is always a good place to start when analysing a system to see why files are not transferring fast enough. In...

This post is the first of a series and continues in Part 2: Memory In light of the release of FileCatalyst Direct v3.0, I thought I’d write a few articles about the road to achieving 10Gbps speeds. It seems to me the best place to start is with the endpoint of the transfer: the storage media. Why? Before we even think about the file transfer protocol, we have to be sure that...

Image On the 3rd of June, CriticalPast announced the launch of CriticalPast.com, an absolutely astonishing archive of historic footage and photographic images:  From the press release on Business Wire: CriticalPast’s library of more than 57,000 video clips is drawn from government sources and digitized, making it easy for users to...