AARNet Addresses Online Storage Challenges

The rapidly developing and closely related spaces of file sharing and online file storage are both areas of activity and development for AARNet and other NRENs worldwide.
Beginning in early 2009, a consortium of NRENs consisting of HEAnet in Ireland, UNINETT in Norway, and AARNet in Australia, later joined by Belnet and SURFnet, has been developing large file transfer software called FileSender. The software resides in the open source domain under a BSD license. The design goal of the software is to enable very large files to be safely, quickly and securely transferred between researchers – files which would for example get rejected as too big by email systems. The software is now underpinning a service offering at 15+ NRENs, and uptake is surprisingly quick and still on the increase – even just the sites at UNINETT and AARNet combined yield 2000+ recurring users.
We find ourselves, then, at an interesting combination of circumstances. An expanding userbase are using FileSender as a vital part of their workflow, demanding increased security and assertion of origin for their important data. The consortia, while being excited about ever-expanding utility of the system, are working to address these demands for additional features.
Similarly, with the advent of cheap, consumer-oriented online storage software, and with external pressures, the Greek NREN, GRNET, found themselves developing open source online file sharing software similar to the popular commercial services Dropbox and Box. The open nature of this development presents an opportunity for other NRENs to leverage the investment of the Greek government in this software. AARNet have been working with GRNET to assist development and to evaluate the software for use in the Australian context.
This talk explores use cases for each system, synergies, development and caveats, and a few case studies.