TransferNow, the French file transfer service: send and receive files

More than 300 billion e-mails are exchanged worldwide every day. These e-mails are processed by various routers and servers along the way, and are finally stored on the recipient's service provider's servers, waiting to be retrieved.

Service providers see large e-mails as an additional cost, slowing down their network performance, transfer and backup speeds, so they set volume limits ranging from 10 MB to 50 MB for the most generous; most, like Gmail or Yahoo, set it at around 25 MB.

How big is 25 MB?

• 1 page of text in Word or .pdf represents around 200 K
• 1 color photo of 800 x 600 pixels is 1.4 MB (1 pixel = 24 bits = 3 bytes)
  
• 1 minute of sound in Mp3: approx. 1 MB
  
• 1 minute of video: approx. 160 MB

So a 20-page .pdf file with several images or graphics quickly approaches the size limit. Often, to send these kinds of files to a recipient, you need to use a file transfer service. If you're sending photo montages, 3D files, videos or sound recordings, the question doesn't even arise.

E-mail security

Unencrypted e-mail offers no form of security, either during transmission or storage. When a hacker accesses a database, he takes it as a whole. Encrypted files are of little value to him, since he doesn't know what they contain. Encryption is therefore an essential security measure when sending and storing personal information. Some file transfer services offer encryption at every stage.

File transfer services

Several file transfer services are available on the market. A service installed in its own country offers a guarantee of compliance with the laws and regulations in force in that country.

TransferNow, the French wetransfer, is the best alternative to giants like WeTransfer or DropBox. It offers :

Sending files

• If 25 MB is a large file, 5 GB is 200 times bigger!
  5 GB is the transfer limit in the free version of TransferNow, while 200 GB and even no limit are offered in the paid versions.
  
• You can preview the content of your files, whether images, videos, audio or text, before sending them.
• Users receive download confirmation and expiration reminder e-mails.
• Paid versions offer the option of scheduling uploads and setting expiration dates beyond 7 days.
  
  

Receiving files

• In addition to sending files, receiving files is just as critical in many companies. Not all suppliers or customers have access to, or know how to use, a file transfer service. The documents received are no less confidential, and sometimes just as voluminous.
  
  To meet this need, TransferNow offers a widget for installation on the company website, as well as reception links that enable anyone to send large files securely and directly from their computer, without even having to use e-mail. A simple and much appreciated security enhancement.

Did they receive it? Did we send it? Is it the right version?

• If files are sent regularly, tracking them becomes a critical function. Better still, thanks to TransferNow's dashboard, you can see whether the file has actually been received, whether it's still accessible, and schedule how long it will remain on the server.
  
  

Security

• Personal data is encrypted in transit, using the SSL/TLS protocol, and at rest using the advanced 256-bit encryption standard; in addition, each encryption key is also encrypted using a rotating set of master keys.
  
  

Send to multiple recipients simultaneously

• Some large communications need to be distributed to several people, so rather than doing so individually, it's possible to distribute files to 10 people simultaneously in the free version of TransferNow, and to 50 or more in the paid versions, with address books and groups.