Month: December 2021

How Triofox Mitigates Dropbox File Sharing Limitations for Publishing Firms

In recent years, more and more publishing companies have turned to the internet for marketing and distribution, and many of the editorial process steps are being replaced with technological advances. Technology has allowed them to skip many of the traditional steps in the editorial process. For instance, many publishers receive proposals or manuscripts online, through email or some other means, instead of having to be printed and sent to their location via postal services. This process requires trust. To uphold their integrity, every publisher has to assume responsibility for protecting clients’ files if they are going to be trusted. Clients expect their files would remain safe with the organization, and versions won’t end up being leaked to the internet.

However, secure file sharing is an essential function for any modern publishing company. To enable optimal performance, there should be an effective file system for consolidation between the various departments such as sales, marketing, management, development, and editorial.

This begs the question, “How do you ensure the smooth running of operations if file sharing is a stinging concern?” Surely wanting both security and file-sharing flexibility is an impossibility paramount to eating one’s cake and having it.

Well, Triofox says it is not. In this piece, we review a case study and analyze how the Triofox solution proved to be an effective, secure file server access integration that delivers on both ends.

Use Case – Technology Publishing Firm

Outlined below are the operations of a tech publishing firm, and how a tweak in their file-sharing solution inspired by the lead qualification process could optimize their operations.

  • Company A is a Tech publishing Firm that set up a VMware environment in a local data center to maintain control over data. However, because they require potential clients to submit files for estimation as a prerequisite to closing a deal, they need a client-facing application for those potential clients to upload their files.
  • They tried Juniper Extranet, but the interface wasn’t quite flexible, so they tried Dropbox. The latter didn’t quite work for them either.
  • They settled for having clients/ external users work directly from the file server. The external users are added to Active Directory under a specific organizational unit (a container object created within a Microsoft Active Directory domain on a server for holding different objects such as users and groups).
  • External user access is disabled/removed if the contract doesn’t fall through. But when a deal closes, they set up a site-to-site VPN for the customer to share data with them.

Two issues identified with this workflow include:

  • Multi-platform data redundancy
  • Scalability limitation of VPN

In the next section, we break down these issues and show why they found Triofox an optimal solution.

Multi-Platform Data Redundancy

Dropbox provides a very convenient and nearly unrivaled solution to file sharing among groups of individuals. It’s free and instant, which is great for multi-device file access and backup. However, Dropbox has certain security limitations for enterprises, two of which, in this case, are privacy and data redundancy.  This establishes the need to maintain a centralized data center and explains why many organizations opt for a private file server to keep a tight rein on their data. A process that entails developing custom permissions for each department as well as limiting access based on roles within those departments.

As with company A, to ensure the company has control over their data, data from Dropbox is replicated back to the file server, further burdening the IT administrators. The data redundancy limitations, if left unchecked, can lead to inconsistency issues for publishing firms (Multiply this issue with multiple writers and editors working on different projects in the organization, which could lead to multiple versions of the files existing on both Dropbox and the file server, making it difficult to keep track of file updates).

Meanwhile, when employees work with Dropbox, given the laxity in which data is being stored and shared, a slight oversight could lead to data falling into the wrong hands, a dicey situation in publishing as it can greatly tamper with profits.

Scalability Limitation Of VPN

Setting up a site-to-site VPN is not scalable. Site-to-site VPNs are established by connecting two gateways in separate locations via the internet. To create a site-to-site VPN, two VPN gateways, which could be routers or VPN connection devices, are set up in each location. This is neither scalable nor sustainable, especially with remote working gaining ground.

How Triofox Addresses These Problems

  1. Minimizes Duplication

Triofox is an enterprise file-sharing alternative to Dropbox. It eliminates the need to copy files to external cloud file-sharing platforms and maintains control over file access when shared with external clients, eliminating the visibility issue of Dropbox.

Also, extending the server’s functionality to include remote file access or a private cloud-like file sharing feature prevents data from being replicated on other servers or applications, reducing file duplication. This private file sharing option preserves the company’s integrity, as customers expect their data to be handled with confidentiality.   

  1. Keep Track of File Updates

Whatever department needs to cooperate, having a system where each party can collaborate without overwriting each other’s work is crucial. Triofox has a file locking feature that ensures no one can edit a file being worked on by another person. Its versioning feature also ensures that at any point in time, previous versions can be restored, keeping all parties working in sync as well as serving as a backup in the case data is erroneously deleted. Like with company A, once leads are converted to customers, they can easily collaborate with others on the project. If they are not, access can still easily be revoked.

  1. Maintain Control Over Data

With Triofox, they don’t have to source external cloud file-sharing services to enable remote collaboration. Data remains on the file server, while external users can access files from the web browser via their devices (data is securely sent over the HTTP/SSL protocol).

  1. No Need to Set Up VPN to Access File Server

Users with existing permissions retain access to file shares and can access their files via the drive letter, while external users, who can be in any location in the world, can access the file server network shares with their mobile browsers without using a VPN to connect back to the corporate network. Also, integrating the solution is a seamless process. Minimal training is needed to get users adept at the new process.

Conclusion

Users can have the convenience of a Dropbox solution and the encryption security of a VPN tunneling solution, without the security and performance challenges of both. Other departments are also sure to utilize the advantages of Triofox as it guarantees timely and easy access to data or resources needed to carry out their functions, particularly in a remote-working setting.

Navigating SharePoint Limitations: The Best File Server Access Solution for AutoCAD Users

Businesses that migrate to Office 365 often choose SharePoint for file sharing and collaboration. Whereas Office 365 makes it easy to share files and collaborate with co-workers, it can be challenging to use SharePoint for specific industries.

In this piece, we introduce Triofox as a tried and tested cloud file server access solution for MEP companies and discuss ways in which Triofox makes up for SharePoint as a corporate file sharing platform.

Background: Company Case Study

Outlined below is a case study that describes the previous workflow of an electrical engineering company and specifies the issue they ran into. Companies whose workflow corresponds can take a cue from the results.

  • Company A does solar panel projects for residential utilities.
  • They have a few designers, a lot of AutoCAD-editing users, and the rest are just people that need access to the CAD drawings.
  • They used SharePoint for several years. However, as an engineering company, using SharePoint brought some compatibility concerns when used with their CAD files, which made them seek an alternative file sharing solution.

These issues include:

  1. No File Locking

According to Autodesk, “Since the release of AutoCAD 2000, the program no longer controls file locking or creates lock files. All file locking now is performed by the operating system or file access software.” Although SharePoint has the file locking features set up for co-authoring applications such as MS Office files, it does not support CAD files, which is configured by SharePoint Online to open its files externally on the AutoCAD app as a third-party application.

As a result, multiple people can open the same drawing at the same time and edit it, and they won’t get a notification that someone else already opened it. When this happens, either a user can’t save changes because the write privilege has been revoked, or the other user’s updates are overwritten.

  1. External reference (XREF) is Inconsistent

It is impossible to get the correct referencing between files via path names, and AutoCAD files can’t be accessed via the download folder. With our case study, because they use the files from their Windows machines (to prevent slow performance, people are advised to download the files to the local network and upload when done), the pathnames are inclusive of the OneDrive folder, i.e., “C:\Users\<UserName>\OneDrive”.

The problem is that updates to the file change the pathname for everyone writing to the file. Hence, it can’t point to the same location.

SharePoint Incompatibility with AutoCAD

The CAD file is a container file that references other files or blocks within the same file. It is important for these references to be correctly managed so they can be updated when their corresponding files are edited. In its right, SharePoint is more a document management system than it is a file-sharing solution as phrased by the AIIM, “Microsoft SharePoint is an enterprise content management and collaboration platform that allows organizations to share and exchange information.” Though it allows for storing CAD files, it doesn’t provide sufficient functionality to manage its design files.

Why Triofox?

File locking is an important feature for online file access and team collaboration. It is a feature that prevents the modification of a file by more than one user at once, which is useful when two or more people need to make changes to a document simultaneously. Triofox is a cloud file server access solution that allows you to access your AutoCAD files in the cloud. It allows users to edit the drawings from within AutoCAD but still have quick and easy access to the drawings from a web browser or mobile device.

By providing a mapped-drive approach to access file shares, it solves the file-locking problem, so editing AutoCAD files that have been replicated to the cloud is not an issue. Triofox mapped drive is a file access solution that has an automatic (and manual) file lock feature that is compatible with a wide range of file extension types. It lets you collaborate with AutoCAD DWG/DXF files so users can easily share design plans and drawings without worrying about the AutoCAD compatibility issue or corruption. Cloud file server access solution other benefits include:

  • Great Tool for Remote Working

For designers who need to work with files from their local server when they’re on the go, Triofox enables users to work on the go without the need to use a VPN, as the performance is subject to network availability and the number of users on the network connection. Also, other users can have 24/7 access to the files on the server, unlike when using an RDP, which still requires an active data connection and someone on the ground in the office to turn on the workstation.

Triofox makes working with AutoCAD easier and more efficient. With Triofox, you can access files faster and worry less about the hassle of AutoCAD file corruption. In addition, using a mapped drive, companies can access files they need from their cloud storage service without worrying about network issues as frequently accessed files can be cached for offline access; those files are encrypted at rest.

  • Seamless Integration

This solution provides the same in-office AutoCAD experience and reduces data replication or redundancy concerns. Triofox enables users to access existing file shares so employees can access their company’s file shares from anywhere, using a web browser or a mobile app. It mirrors the familiar on-premise working experience, so it doesn’t matter whether employees work remotely or on the road. Once authenticated, they can effortlessly use their own device to securely access corporate data, even when they’re away from the office.

Its deployment takes little to minimal training, unlike SharePoint, whose adoption can be time-intensive and expensive.

Conclusion

Triofox is an excellent solution as it provides the ease of use functionality as SharePoint and provides design editing functionality not readily available on most cloud computing services. For these reasons, Triofox provides a more comprehensive file-sharing solution to MEPs.