Solutions

File transfer over IP networks has the potential to enable extraordinary efficiencies in global production as compared to expensive dedicated WAN's, VPN's and courier services. Yet using conventional transfer technologies, such as FTP, HTTP and Windows CIFS, large file transfers can be doggedly slow and unpredictable with variable network conditions, offering limited to no control over transfer finish times or priorities.


Similarly, even with the enormous popularity of online content sharing services such as iTunes, MySpace, and YouTube for consumers, transfers to and from distant servers are slow and often unable to fully utilize the entire bandwidth available. If a downloading file is being played, playback may glitch or stop, waiting for more data to be downloaded, a frustrating experience for the user. Companies resort to paying expensive CDN fees to move content to the network "edge" for better throughput.


Aspera provides an innovative bulk data transfer technology, implemented in software, that addresses these challenges of file transfer in the enormous variety of workflows and delivery applications. Unlike conventional file transfer protocols and even 'WAN acceleration' approaches, Aspera transfers overcome the throughput bottleneck completely, and provide maximum bandwidth utilization, the fastest possible end-to-end transfers, and guaranteed delivery times, regardless of the distance of the endpoints. The efficiency holds across the dynamic conditions of the network and for even the most difficult satellite, wireless, and unreliable international links. In addition, transfers are completely secure.


Categories of solutions provided include:

High Speed Point-to-Point transfers, reducing large transfers from hours to minutes:


  • Collaborative digital workflows depending on high-speed transfers between globally-distributed teams, such as software, engineering design, and game development teams.
  • Creative production of digital media using high-speed file transfer among studios, broadcasters, advertisers, and their partners and vendors worldwide.
  • High speed off-site data backup using the Internet or private IP networks. Aspera deployments provide high-speed backups for automobile, pharmaceutical, financial, publishing, and entertainment companies. On a cross-US OC-3 (155 Mbps), Aspera software transfers 10GB in 10 minutes.

Centralized Upload and Download Applications with fast, predictable fasp transfers replacing FTP, such as:


  • Upload from remote field locations, such as electronic news gathering, military image collection, and medical image transfer at bandwidth capacity, even over extremely difficult links.
  • Electronic video distribution to globally distributed partners and licensees.
  • Integration in global digital asset management (DAM) and file delivery applications. Aspera software has been integrated in several commercial and in-house asset management systems as a superior alternative to HTTP and FTP transfers.

Consolidated Global File Transfer systems in which mirrored local file servers are replaced by one consolidated file server providing distance-neutral high performance for domestic and international locations.


Person-to-person file transfer, such as ad-hoc sharing of rich media, drawings, and documents in creative design, advertising, legal and media production. Secure, reliable file sharing over the Internet is possible at any distance. Our global outsourcing customers realize 10-25X throughput improvement on transfers to India and China over bandwidths of only 1.5 Mbps.


Mass Content Distribution over the web to partners and consumers. The distance-neutral transfer throughput fully utilizes the user's bandwidth capacity without the assistance of expensive "edge" networks traditionally required for improved download speeds, and enables progressive download capability with smooth, glitch-free playback.


http://www.asperasoft.com/solutions/end-to-end/index.html . Aspera software powers the upload of video content to several of the Internet's most popular online music and video stores, and is used for high-speed file transfer between the Hollywood studios, their post-production partners, the content aggregators, and finally to the CDN's. An example content provider reduced daily upload times from 3.5 hours to 7 minutes. Cross-country transfers over high-speed backbones are over 100X the speed of conventional protocols.




Products


The Aspera products are a suite of simple, cross-platform software applications providing the fastest possible, secure transfer of file and directory data independent of network conditions, guaranteed delivery times, and extraordinary bandwidth control. All products are built on the same fasp core. Transfers are dramatically faster than standard FTP (up to several hundred times), have built-in adaptation to the available bandwidth, allow the user to precisely control individual transfers speeds and bandwidth used, and have complete security. Widely deployed for digital media delivery and network file transfer, the software is powerful and flexible for a wide variety of business-to-business and business-to-consumer file transfer applications.


Stand Alone Applications



Enterprise Server


A universal file transfer server combining the high performance of fasp with exceptional transfer management features for enterprise and consumer applications. The server supports transfers with all Aspera clients -- desktop, web-based, and embedded.



faspex Server


A simple, elegant web application, adding on to the Enterprise Server, for person-to-person and group file exchange using fasp. With the integrated Aspera Connect web client, users can send, receive, browse and download files and directories from within the web interface, as well as download packages directly from email.



Aspera Scp


A complete, point-to-point file transfer application for cross-platform, secure transfers with the high performance of Aspera fasp. Supports interactive transfers through a complete desktop GUI, and automated transfers through push and pull hot folders, a scriptable command line interface, and a web-services (SOAP) interface for programmatic control.



Aspera Connect


A small, install-on-demand browser plug-in for embedding Aspera fasp in web applications as a superior alternative to HTTP transfers, or progressive downloads. A rich Javascript API supports a variety of transfer initiation modes, such as "drag and drop" to the browser for upload. An integrated video player provides high-speed, glitch-free progressive download and playback.



Central Console


A single web interface for managing Aspera endpoints in a network. Administrators can automate transfer jobs between computers, monitor all active transfers on managed nodes, control individual transfer speeds and priorities, and set up aggregate bandwidth caps for all Aspera transfers.



Plug-in for Avid Transfer Manager


This plug-in for Transfer Manager enables seamless, high-performance FASP transfers between remote AVID workgroups.


Developers' Tools


Software Development Kit


An open software development kit enabling third-party applications to embed Aspera's high-speed, secure fasp transfer technology as a superior alternative to FTP, HTTP or custom network copy protocols. The SDK includes client and server side web services (SOAP) interfaces for transfer initiation and management; library interfaces (C, C++, and Java) for embedded applications; and a Javascript API for integration in web applications.





Technology


Aspera's fasp transfer technology is an innovative (patent-pending) software that eliminates the fundamental bottlenecks of conventional file transfer technologies such as FTP, HTTP, and Windows CIFS, and dramatically speeds transfers over public and private IP networks. The approach achieves perfect throughput efficiency, independent of the latency of the path and robust to packet losses.  In addition, users have extra-ordinary control over individual transfer rates and bandwidth sharing, and full visibility into bandwidth utilization. File transfer times can be guaranteed, regardless of the distance of the endpoints or the dynamic conditions of the network, including even transfers over satellite, wireless, and inherently long distance and unreliable international links. Complete security is built-in, including secure endpoint authentication, on-the-fly data encryption, and integrity verification.


fasp Transport Characteristics


  • Maximum Speed.
    • Enables large data set transfers over any network at maximum speed, source disk to destination disk, regardless of network conditions or distance.
      • Over gigabit WAN's with 1 second RTT and 5% packet loss, achieves 500-600 Mbps file transfers on high-end PCs with RAID-0 and 200-300 Mbps transfers on commodity PCs.
      • Even with extreme packet loss and latency (30%/1 second RTT), sustains over 100 Mbps WAN transfers, and fills a satellite transponder.
    • Transfers large data sets of small files with the same efficiency as large single files.
    • Very lightweight. Does not require specialized or powerful hardware to maintain high speeds.
  • Extraordinary Bandwidth Control.
    • Provides precise rate control (pre-set and on-the-fly) for guaranteed transfer times.
    • Uses an automatic adaptive rate control to fully utilize available bandwidth while remaining fair to other traffic.
    • Provides fast, automatic discovery of the bandwidth capacity between the source and destination.
    • Supports on-the-fly configurable bandwidth sharing policies. Users may pre-set and change individual transfer rates and finish times as needed.
    • Supports perfect progressive-style transfers, e.g. for media playout. Transfer speeds do not degrade with congestion or distance, ensuring smooth, immediate processing of the incoming data.
  • Complete Security.
    • Includes complete, built-in security using open standard cryptography for user authentication, data encryption and data integrity verification.
  • Software Only.
    • Uses standard, unmodified IP networking and is implemented in software as an application protocol. Requires no changes to the operating system or driver installation on the file transfer endpoints, no new appliances, and no network changes.
  • Robust.
    • Provides end-to-end transfer progress reporting and detailed performance statistics for monitoring and billing, as well as custom pre- and post-transfer processing.
    • Automatically resumes partial transfers and retries failed transfers.
  • Flexible Open Architecture.
    • Supports interoperable file and directory transfers between all major operating systems and provides a complete, modern software API to build upon.



Partners


Aspera is honored to have the following companies as sales and technology partners. The Aspera transfer software is readily integrated as a high-performance file transfer platform for OEM and embedded use. We welcome partnerships with system integrators seeking an improved data transport path to extend current systems with distance-neutral file transfer; technology providers needing a state-of-the-art file or large object transport in new applications; and service and solution providers, interested in offering a premium, next-generation transport. For more information, please contact partners@asperasoft.com.



Netmarks is the premiere distributor of Aspera software in Japan and the Asia Pacific region. Networks was established in 1997 to provide network infrastructure services to customers in Japan and other countries in Asia using the best-of-breed technologies. Netmarks’ flexibility and pursuit of excellence has allowed it to adopt advanced technology developed worldwide, including IP LAN network systems, wireless systems, security systems, and WAN network and server / storage applications. Utilizing these technologies, Netmarks offers customers the best-suited solutions, from consultation services, through system design and construction, to maintenance and remote monitoring.





Intraware (NASDAQ: ITRA) has fully integrated Aspera software in SubscribeNet, its Web-based electronic license and software management solution, to provide high performance contribution and delivery of software assets. SubscribeNet provides a unified management and delivery platform used by business-to-business technology providers to facilitate the delivery of licenses, software and other digital goods. The SubscribeNet service powers the software distribution of many of the world's largest technology companies, such as Adobe, Business Objects, EMC, Hyperion Solutions, IBM, McKesson, and RSA Security.





Hewlett Packard (HP) offers Aspera software with the HP Digital Media Platform ( DMP), an enterprise framework for network-based storage, processing, management and distribution of digital media assets. Aspera's software adds state-of-the-art speed, secure file transfer and bandwidth control to HP's integrated solution platform for end-to-end digital media management. Aspera-enabled solutions from HP are under deployment at major Hollywood studios and in support of online video retailers.





Isilon Systems and Aspera have partnered to provide high-speed transfer capability integrated with Isilon's IQ clustered storage systems. Isilon Systems is the worldwide leader in clustered storage systems and software for digital content, enabling enterprises to transform data into information - and information into breakthroughs. Isilon's clustered storage solutions speed access to critical business information while dramatically reducing the cost and complexity of storing it.





Microsoft utilizes Aspera's software to provide fast, reliable and secure transfer of assets for the Interactive Media Manager solution. Microsoft Interactive Media Manager is a next-generation digital content management solution that combines digital workflows and media application integration with a collaborative front-end environment. An extension of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, the solution is designed specifically to help media and entertainment companies deal with the new challenges of taking digital content to the Internet.





North Plains Systems has integrated Aspera's software in TeleScope Enterprise 8 Digital Asset Management solution for high-speed, secure upload and download of large media assets.





OpenText's Artesia Digital Media Group is integrating Aspera's software in its Digital Asset Management solution for high-speed, secure upload and download of large media assets.


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Developers Network

The Aspera Developers Networks (ADN) provides developers with guides, reference information, and sample code. The resources are available to assist developers with the process of integrating Aspera technology into their own applications.


Aspera fasp transport software can be used in desktop, network-based, and web applications in place of FTP, HTTP, or custom TCP-based copy protocols. The SDK includes several interface options for initiating and managing Aspera fasp transfers.


Interfaces to our software vary from socket protocols up to language specific API's including Java, C++, and .NET. We also provide SOAP interfaces for programming Aspera transfers in all common web services frameworks. Visit the Aspera Developers Network to find out more.





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