ITS has developed and deployed a new web application that lets UH faculty, staff, and students securely share large files with people inside and outside the UH community without relying on email and its limitations. After the files have been uploaded via the Web, an email is sent to the recipient informing them that the files have been uploaded and providing a URL from which they may be downloaded. The UH FileDrop application can be found at http://www.hawaii.edu/filedrop.

The FileDrop application can be used by non-UH people to share files with UH people, by UH people to share with non-UH people, or between UH people. But at least one of the parties must have a UH Username and password. Its' basic operation is simple. A person wishing to upload files:

1. visits the application home page,
2. either logs in with a UH username or provides their external email address if affiliated with UH,
3. enters an email address for the recipient of the files, and an optional message to be sent to the recipient, and
4. chooses the files to be uploaded.

After the files have been uploaded an email is sent to the recipient informing him or her that the files have been uploaded and providing a URL from which they may be downloaded. This URL is the "secret key" required to download the files. Only someone holding that URL will be able to download and view the files. The files will be automatically deleted after five days.  That, in a nutshell, is the whole service, fast and easy. It is intended to provide an alternative to the use of email for exchange of large or sensitive files.

There are a few interesting details. A single upload is limited to a maximum of 800MB, enough for a typical CD of data. You can upload up to three files at a time: the service is not really appropriate for sharing large numbers of small files. If you'd like to upload a large number of files, you can first create an "archive" of the files using a tool such as WinZip (Windows) or Stuffit (Mac).

When choosing a recipient, you are limited to only a single email address. Uploaders from outside the UH system must provide a hawaii.edu address as a recipient. UH uploaders can provide any address, internal or external, as the recipient. If you have a UH username and would like to share the files with more than one person, you can enter a single recipient, or even no recipients at all. Once the upload process has completed you will be given the secret download URL, which can be copied into a message addressed to all your desired recipients.

Documents uploaded into the system are encrypted during upload and download, as well as for the duration of their storage on ITS's servers. This system protects the file contents from casual snooping. You can also enable optional "authentication" for the downloader, in which case the downloader will have to first login with their UH username and password before obtaining access to the files. This adds an additional layer of security, over and above that provided by the secret download URL.

The most straightforward application of FileDrop is just as described above: you've got a big file (or a few big files) which you want to share. However, the service can also be used by only one party, as "temporary personal online storage". For example, you may be doing research away from your computer (at the library, say) and after having collected a few documents you'd like to get them back to your office. A small USB "thumb" drive is one obvious solution, but you can also upload the files to the FileDrop service, using your own UH username as the recipient. You can retrieve the files at your leisure (within five days, of course) and the service will automatically remove the files as they expire.

The service can also be used to "send" files to yourself. If you will be traveling and may not have access to your computer or a portable storage device like a thumb drive, you can upload your files, specifying your own username as the recipient. You will then be able to access the files from any Web-connected computer.