Share large digital files and data sets more securely with colleagues on and off campus using two available services, Filesender and Box@UNL. Information Technology Services is decommissioning UNL's previous large file transfer service, dropbox.unl.edu beginning March 2. UNL Drop Box will suspend file uploads on March 2. Files uploaded to the system prior to that date will be available for download until their March 16 expiration date, when the service is discontinued.
UNL Drop Box (not affiliated with the commercial product dropbox.com) was launched in 2002 to allow users to share digital files that were too large to send via email. File uploads were limited to 700MB. The in-house service has been viewed as an potential risk as use has increased from outside the university and the entertainment industry has filed a number take down notices with UNL for copyrighted material stored on Drop Box.
Filesender allows file uploads up to 1TB (terrabyte) in size and senders can set their own expiration date. Senders and recipients receive confirmation emails when the file has been sent and downloaded. The file is encrypted during transit and MyUNL credentials are used to access to the system. Guest vouchers allow non-UNL colleagues to send files in return. Filesender is best used as a temporary, one-time sharing of a file, as storage of the file will expire and no backup is run on the system.
Box currently has over 4100 users at UNL with over 9.5 TB of file storage. Box is best used when long term storage and repeated collaboration is desired. Individual files up to 10 GB and project folders can be shared and modified via assigned collaborators in Box. All data is encrypted for security. Files and folders can be also designated as viewable or downloadable by others via a web link. Weblinks can be password-protected and can be set with an assignable expiration date. Box accounts with a 50 GB capacity are available to all students, faculty and staff.
"Filesender and Box are both professional tools that are trusted and used widely by the research and higher ed communities," says Brett Bieber, identity access manager. "With Drop Box, there is little security and there are users with no affiliation with the university. Users of Box and Filesender are authenticated through MyUNL credentials. Encryption is used as data travels over Internet2's high-speed lines."
Filesender and Box@UNL are both offered free of charge to all students, faculty and staff through a NET+ Services contract with Internet2.
For more information on Box@UNL go to : http://box.unl.edu
For more information on Filesender, go to http://its.unl.edu/filesender