File Sharing with Business Partners:

 

A leading manufacturer of computers and computer accessories needs to establish a file sharing system that will enable its internal users to exchange files with external business partners.

 

 

The Need

In the past two years, the company's IT management has noticed a steady decrease in file transfer performance. This prompted them to reach the conclusion that the company’s current file transfer infrastructure is not capable of handling the large scale exchange of data between the company and its 2,500 business partners.

 

The company’s file transfer requirements are wide and varied, including:

§         Exchange of files between closed and open systems

§         Transfer between a wide range of platforms, using different transfer protocols for each platform

In addition, the exchange of files with business partners raises a number of issues; each business partner may impose its own security policies, require specific protocols, allocate specific ports, require certificate-based authentication and more.

 

After careful analysis of the required solution, the following basic requirements were presented:

1.          The solution must enable users to transfer files between the company and partner systems.

2.          The solution must be operable in both interactive and unattended modes.

3.          The solution must work with the company's current IT architecture and cover three major global regions

4.          The solution must provide maximum security to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the company's and partner’s intellectual property. None of the user's information should be present on the server.

5.          The solution must support the following file transfer methods: S/FTP, HTTP/S, Windows File Shares, SSH and component protocols or equivalent.

6.          The solution should be deployable on the following platforms: Windows, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX and Linux.

7.          The proposed solution must be scalable to at least 20,000 users.

8.          The proposed solution should keep complete and traceable records of all transactions.

 

The Solution

The solution proposed by SoftLink is B-Hub.

 

B-Hub is SoftLink's turnkey file exchange solution. B-Hub is built on top of two time-proven SoftLink products: FASTCopy and FEST, both operating faultlessly for over a decade in production environments. B-Hub is a reliable and versatile solution that enables users to securely exchange large volumes of files with each other, regardless of their location.

 

Three B-Hubs will be deployed at the company's global geographical locations. Each entity, whether machine or person, would be assigned a username and password on B-Hub.

Features

Administrators will be able to:

§         Define delivery rules for each user

§         Choose delivery protocols for each user

§         Create groups of users and delegate roles (e.g. Administrator)

§         Restrict and/or revoke a user privileges

§         Enforce system-wide and user-specific security rules

§         Create distribution lists

§         Monitor all server activities

§         Hook into any ODBC supported database

 

Users will be able to:

§         Authenticate their identity to B-Hub Server

§         Use a clientless client (browser-based) or a locally installed client, according to the user’s preference.

§         Create packages of files and send them to specific recipients or distribution list

§         Track the progress of each package

§         Receive notification on delivery success  or failure

§         Manually send packages or schedule automated package delivery

§         Ask the administrator to set up custom security policies for their own needs

 

Response to Specific Requirements

B-Hub's basic features satisfy all the requirements requested by the computer manufacturer. The only feature implemented at the computer manufacturer’s request is B-Hub’s ability to work with provisioning systems.

 

1.          B-Hub's primary purpose is to provide a file exchange server that allows the exchange of files between B-Hub users.

2.          B-Hub provides full management and administration tools that permit administrators to fully configure and control the server’s response to user requests.

3.          In addition to its ability to control ANY file transfer protocol (subject to the protocol's restrictions) and provide flexible modules, B-Hub is designed to be seamlessly integrated into the existing IT infrastructures. Three B-Hubs will be installed at the company's geographical gateways. All users will be registered on all B-Hubs. For the user, the recipients' geographical location is irrelevant. 

4.          B-Hub protects data and authenticates the identity of users using, among others, SSL 3.0 client/server authentication, digital signatures, virus scanning, transport encryption tools, Smart Card and token interfaces, proprietary encryption, and shared secret end-to-end encryption.

5.          B-Hub supports a wide variety of protocols, allowing B-Hub administrators to select a protocol that is most appropriate for delivering files to the end-user’s machine. For instance, in a single transfer, the B-Hub administrator can configure the Hub to deliver the files to some of the recipients’ machines using SoftLink’s FASTCopy protocol and to others using FTP, S/MIME, SSH/SFTP or HTTPS protocols.

6.          Depending on the user’s computing environment and needs, B-Hub offers a wide range of clients that can be deployed on: Windows, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX and Linux.

7.          B-Hub was designed to support almost any number of users depending on the server hardware and with clustering.

8.          Prior to file delivery, all files are registered on B-Hub. File delivery will not take place if the initial registration stage has not taken place. These records are then written to any database that supports ODBC.

 

The solution presented above discusses only partial list of requirements presented to SoftLink. Over 90% of the manufacturer's requirements have been answered in the solution provided.