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<HTML>
<HEAD><TITLE>F*EX - File EXchange</TITLE></HEAD>
<BODY>
<center>
<h1>F*EX - Frams' Fast File EXchange</h1>
<IMG SRC="logo.jpg">
</center>
<p>
F*EX (Frams' Fast File EXchange) is a service to send big (large, huge,
giant, ...) files from a user A to a user B.
<p>
The sender uploads the file to the F*EX server using a
<a href="/fup">WWW upload form</a> and the recipient
automatically gets a notification e-mail with a download-URL.
<p>
You say:
<blockquote><em>
Why do I need another service for file transfer?!<br>
I have e-mail, ftp, ssh and even sendfile!
</em></blockquote>
<p>
I say:
<blockquote><em>
You still need F*EX :-)
</em></blockquote>
<p>
For example, you want to send your friend your last holiday video (1 GB).
You have the following possibilities (and problems):<p>
<ul>
<li><h3>sending a DVD by postal service</h3><p>
Out of the question - we live in the year
<<my @x=gmtime(time); $x[5]-69;>>
after invention of the internet!
Sending media (hardware) is for grandpas.
<p>
<li><h3>using e-mail</h3><p>
Most e-mail servers have a limit of 10 MB per e-mail and a
storage-quota of a few 100 MB per user or even less.
<p>
<li><h3>uucp</h3><p>
Why not cuneiform writing on stone plates?
<p>
<li><h3>ssh</h3><p>
You have your friends password or you are willing to give him yours
- just for a file transfer?
<p>
<li><h3>ftp</h3><p>
<ul>
<li>Using which ftp server?
<li>Using which account, which password?
<li>You do not mind sending unencrypted passwords and files over the insecure internet?
<li>Your proxy supports passive-ftp?
<li>In case of anonymous ftp:
<ul>
<li>Does it allow 1 GB uploads?
<li>Does it allow to delete the upload afterwards?
<li>Who else can download your file?
<li>Who else can delete your file?
<li>You have to send your friend the download-URL, he has to
inform you about the successful download, you have to delete
it afterwards.<br>
All in all: a pain in the ass.
</ul>
</ul>
<p>
<li><h3>http</h3><p>
<ul>
<li>No default upload and user management - must be programmed
<li>No auto-notification
<li>No auto-deletion
<li>Very few http servers can handle files greater than 2 GB
</ul>
<p>
<li><h3><a href ="http://fex.belwue.de/saft/">
sendfile</a></h3><p>
<ul>
<li>You run UNIX and have sendfile installed?
<li>Your recipient runs UNIX and has sendfile installed?
<li>Neither you nor your recipient has a firewall blocking port 487?
</ul>
<p>
<li><h3>commercial services like DropLoad, ALLPeers, YouSendIt, etc</h3><p>
<ul>
<li>What limit do they have (most: < 2 GB)?
<li>What about security and privacy: will your files be save and secure?
<li>Are they open source based or closed proprietary?
<li>Are they accessible with any browser or do you need java, active-X, flash or other evil plugins?
<li>Will they exist longer than a few months?<br>
(DropLoad, ALLPeers and drop.io already have terminated their business)
</ul>
<p>
</ul>
<p>
If you have answered only once "no" to the questions above, then you need
F*EX.
<p>
<h2>Main features of F*EX</h2>
<p>
<ul>
<li>file transfer of virtually unlimited file size
<li>recipient and sender only need an e-mail program and a web browser -
of any kind, they do not have to install any software
<li>RESEND and REGET for resuming after link failures at last sent byte
<li>auto-notification of recipient
<li>auto-deletion after download
<li>auto-deletion after expiration date (default: <<$keep>> days)
<li>full-users can create one time upload URLs for foreign users
<li>full-users can create sub-users, who can send only to this full-user
<li>full-users can create groups, an analogy to mailing lists, but for files
<li>maintenance-free: no admin interaction necessary besides creating new F*EX accounts
<li>Sending to multiple recipients needs storage on the server only once
<li>F*EX is a HTTP web-service and needs no firewall-tunnels
<li>support for streams, too
<li>for real UNIX users, there are the shell programs fexsend and fexget to
avoid annoying web browser usage
<li>protocol and source-code free available
</ul>
<h2>Let's talk about SEX</h2>
F*EX has a companion: Stream EXchange (SEX).<p>
You can imagine SEX as network wide UNIX pipes with a relay between.
This can be useful for piping data from user A to user B where A and B cannot
establish a direct connection, but both can connect by HTTP to the
SEX server. For seamless integration into the UNIX tool chain, there are
the shell-tools sexsend and sexget.
<p>
Authentication is the same as with F*EX.
<h2>Still questions?</h2>
See the <a href="http://fex.belwue.de/features.html">full feature list</a>,
the <a href="/FAQ/FAQ.html">FAQ</a>
and the <a href="http://fex.belwue.de/usecases/">use cases</a>.
<p>
<ADDRESS>contact: <A HREF="mailto:$SERVER_ADMIN$">fexmaster</A></ADDRESS>
</BODY>
</HTML>
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