F*EX (Frams' Fast File EXchange) is a service to send big (large, huge,
giant, ...) files from a user A to a user B.
The sender uploads the file to the F*EX server using a
WWW upload form and the recipient
automatically gets a notification e-mail with a download-URL.
You say:
Why do I need another service for file transfer?!
I have e-mail, ftp, ssh and even sendfile!
I say:
You still need F*EX :-)
For example, you want to send your colleague your last lab data set (1 GB).
You have the following possibilities (and problems):
sending a DVD by postal service
Out of the question - we live in the year
44
after invention of the internet!
Sending media (hardware) is for grandpas.
using e-mail
Most e-mail servers have a limit of 10 MB per e-mail and a
storage-quota of a few 100 MB per user or even less.
uucp
Why not cuneiform writing on stone plates?
ssh
You have your communication partners password or you are willing to give him yours
- just for a file transfer?
ftp
Using which ftp server?
Using which account, which password?
You do not mind sending unencrypted passwords and files over the insecure internet?
Your proxy supports passive-ftp?
In case of anonymous ftp:
Does it allow 1 GB uploads?
Does it allow to delete the upload afterwards?
Who else can download your file?
Who else can delete your file?
You have to send your friend the download-URL, he has to
inform you about the successful download, you have to delete
it afterwards.
All in all: a pain in the ass.
http
No default upload and user management - must be programmed
No auto-notification
No auto-deletion
Very few http servers can handle files greater than 2 GB
recipient and sender only need an e-mail program and a web browser -
of any kind, they do not have to install any software
(the F*EX server itself is UNIX based)
RESEND and REGET for resuming after link failures at last sent byte
auto-notification of recipient
auto-deletion after download
auto-deletion after expiration date (default: 5 days)
full-users can create one time upload URLs for foreign users
full-users can create sub-users, who can send only to this full-user
full-users can create groups, an analogy to mailing lists, but for files
admin can allow (internal or external) user self-registration
admin can allow upload to public recipients without authentification
admin can allow upload for LAN users without registration (anonymous upload)
Sending to multiple recipients needs storage on the server only once
F*EX is a HTTP web-service and needs no firewall-tunnels
maintenance-free: no admin interaction necessary besides creating new F*EX accounts
support for streams, too
for real UNIX users, there are the shell programs fexsend and fexget to
avoid annoying web browser usage
You can imagine SEX as network wide UNIX pipes with a relay between.
This can be useful for piping data from user A to user B where A and B cannot
establish a direct connection, but both can connect by HTTP to the
SEX server. For seamless integration into the UNIX tool chain, there are
the shell-tools sexsend and sexget.
