We spend a lot of time talking about secure file transfer servers, but every organization operates with a number of other file servers. Today, we’ll break down how secure file transfer servers are the same as, and different from, other types of servers.
Is a file transfer server also a file server?
In some cases, yes, but you generally don’t want your file transfer server acting as your file server. A secure file transfer server’s ideal use case is to serve as the broker between your internal file server and an external client’s file server. It listens for connection requests from your internal network or the web, then moves requested files from one machine to the other, in and out of your organization across all of the different networks required to accomplish the transfer. It’s optimized to manage the authentication, connections, encryption and logging required to accomplish these transfers safely.
A file server, on the other hand, serves as the storage resource for your organization. File servers are generally not configured to accept connections outside of an organization’s network, and are optimized for efficient data storage and retrieval, partitioning, backups and other tasks. File servers generally have much larger storage capacities, and must operate on hardware optimized for this configuration.
Why shouldn’t you use your file server as a file transfer server?
Some file transfer servers, like JSCAPE MFT Server by Redwood, offer some of the same capabilities as a file server (encryption at rest, network-mapped storage, etc.), but it is not best practice to use them as a file server. While today’s file transfer servers are quite secure, they are also exposed to the internet and it is not best practice to keep your files exposed to the web for significant periods of time.
Ideally, your file transfer server is moving received files to your internal file server and quickly closing the connection so that any potential external intrusion to your file transfer server would not be able to access the data.
How is a file server optimized?
Administrators generally optimize file servers for a combination of efficiency and redundancy, paying attention to several areas:
- Storage efficiency: Given the sheer volume of data most file servers handle, making efficient use of available storage is one of the most common optimization requirements. A number of options exist to improve the efficiency of a storage volume, which include caching and buffering, file allocation, data compression, deduplication and more.
- Data integrity: No digital file system is perfect. Servers will experience hardware and software failures that add up over time, but a properly optimized server can mitigate these effects. Implementing Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) configurations can protect against disk failure, while logging and backup tools can help to restore any data in the event of an outage
- Security: With so much activity happening on an organization’s file server, and so much critical data stored within the machine, administrators must balance security and operational speed. In addition to implementing standard tools such as multi-factor authentication, organizations may also enable full-disk encryption on their file servers to limit damage that a compromised login can cause
How is a secure file transfer server optimized?
Secure file transfer servers are generally optimized in several areas:
- Access and authentication: The fact that your secure file transfer server is one of the primary ways in which data flows in and out of your organization means that it is often one of the primary attack vectors for brute force and phishing attacks. Access security optimizations can include implementation of MFA, strong password policies, limitations on which files or directories can be transferred, transfer alerts and fine-grained security groups
- Transfer speed: The faster your file transfer server can process data, the faster your operations will be, but any number of factors can affect that speed (including the size of your files and your choice of encryption). Your environment will dictate whether your transfer priority will be speed, security, or a combination of the two. Most secure file transfer solutions like Cerberus FTP Server by Redwood offer the ability to choose between encryption ciphers and transfer protocols to help you optimize for the right balance.
- Logging: Many organizations are required to keep records of all data access and transfer activity. Optimizing your secure file transfer solution for detailed logging is the ideal way to demonstrate regulatory compliance for data handling and pass any required data and security audits.
- Automation: With so many automated operations occurring in the typical organization, secure file transfer automation is a powerful productivity tool. The majority of solutions like Cerberus FTP Server and JSCAPE MFT Server provide APIs and event handling to enable automation of recurring tasks.
What types of file server configurations exist?
File servers typical fall into three types of configurations:
- Network-attached storage (NAS): The simplest file server configuration is simply a machine with one or more storage drives that can be directly connected to an organization’s network.
- Storage area network (SAN): As an organization scales up, it will generally move to a SAN network which connects multiple servers into a network that allows the network to function like a single drive.
- Cloud-based: This server configuration can offer options ranging from dedicated machines managed by a third party to virtual file servers operating on shared servers. The primary difference with cloud-based file servers is that someone else maintains them. The machines themselves are typically arranged in one of the above configurations.
We hope this post has helped you understand the differences between a file server and a secure file transfer server. If you have any questions about implementation, please contact our team.