Page 30 - index

(!++%-'%1 .& 0!-1&%00)-' !0'% %1)'- )+%1

Selecting the right Data Exchange Solution for the transfer of large design files while
ensuring privacy of information

By Eitan Bremler, Director of Product Marketing and Management, Safe-T Data

Today, thanks to improvements in design software and the increasing affordability of
hardware processing, design departments in industrial organizations are able to create
design files in very high resolutions and even three-dimensionally. While such files are very
elaborate and highly detailed, they have one notable flaw: they are extremely large. It is not
uncommon for an AutoCAD drawing to reach a size of 20 GB.

Such large files create a significant challenge for the IT managers in industrial organizations,
requiring them to provide their engineering departments with tools for secure and easy file
transfers to other departments within the organization and to external partners. This task
may be relatively simple when both departments are located in the same facility, as all that is
required is sharing the file via a network folder or FTP server located within the internal
network. However, when the two departments are located in different facilities and networks,
or the manufacturing is done by an external contractor, sharing multi-GB design files
becomes a challenge.

The challenges of sharing large files stems from a couple of factors. First, design files are
proprietary and include sensitive information, which means they must be securely
transferred between internal and external users, ensuring they are not leaked or stolen in the
process. For example, imagine a large airplane manufacturer’s newest design is leaked to a
competitor; that could be disastrous for the company's product line.

Second, transferring large files requires special tools to accommodate the files’ large sizes,
as the currently available standard tools are not suitable:

Standard email solutions (e.g. Microsoft Exchange) cannot be used, as they usually limit
attachments to 10 MB and block anything larger.

Using an FTP server is a viable solution when used within the same organization, but when
it is used to connect two remote locations spanning geographies or organizations, it lacks
enterprise-grade features such as secure transfer, DLP, QoS (quality of service,) password
encryption, transfer auditing, etc.

Using cloud solutions with simple user interfaces, such as Hightail or DropBox, are by no
means enterprise-grade solutions, either. These choices suffer from the same issues that
affect FTP servers (security, auditing, QoS, etc.) In addition, the fact that they are hosted
solutions means the data does not reside on the organization’s premises, and there is
usually no indication of the physical location of the cloud provider’s data center.

It is clear that the required solution should provide the ability to easily transfer large files
between locations and organizations, as well as be able to ensure the file transfer is
secured, managed, and controlled.

When coming to select a secured file transfer solution, IT should look for advanced email
encryption solutions which offer a high level of security and ease of use. The solution should
! " $
! # ! "