RE: [SAGE] incoming file transfers, and collaborative environments in general

["Epps, Alan" <Alan.Epps@nielsenmedia.com>]

 All,

I just realized that I did a direct reply, rather than list reply,
sorry.

Alan

-----Original Message-----
From: Epps, Alan
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 3:19 PM
To: 'Betsy Schwartz'
Subject: RE: [SAGE] incoming file transfers, and collaborative
environments in general

Betsy,

The way we implemented it in a past life was to set up a system that
allowed someone to go to a web page and request the ability to drop off
a file on a particular site. This web front-end required a valid email
address, and a valid email address for the recipient. The system would
generate a one-time password with a limited time to live and send it to
the email address that the requestor entered on the web front end. With
the one time password the requestor could then authenticate to web
front-end, drop off up to 10 files, and log out. 

The drop-off point was hidden from the requestors entirely, and was
write only. At a scheduled interval a cron job moved the files from the
drop-off point to another pick-up directory, and notified the recipient,
including the one-time password and web path for the files. The pick-up
process was exactly the same as the drop off process, but read-only.
After a certain time the pick-up directory was cleaned out via cron and
code.

This system worked in both directions, and was all written in-house in
under a man month. We re-used an old end-of-life server, hardened the
OS, and stuck it in a dmz. This was cheap, flexible, and usable by
anyone. We logged every transaction, and wrote code to validate the
drop-off/pick-up logging, and flagged us if anything was dropped off
without pickup, so we could track down the disconnect as needed.

Alan
--------------------------------------------------------------------
All opinions expressed are my own, not my employer's.
Alan S. Epps   alan.epps@nielsenmedia.com