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Aspera Expands its faspex™ Server Software Solution for High-speed File Exchange and Distribution

November 15, 2011
Aspera faspex™ Server 2.5 Features Powerful New Drop Box Capabilities for Ad-Hoc Content submission, Unlimited Scale-out Through a Multi-tier Deployment Architecture and Direct Integration with Microsoft Outlook

EMERYVILLE, Calif.– November 15, 2011—Aspera, Inc., creators of the patented fasp™ transport technology and software products that move the world’s digital assets at maximum speed regardless of file size, transfer distance or network conditions,announced the availability of Aspera faspex™ Server 2.5. This major release expands the popular server software used for high-speed digital file exchange and distribution with new capabilities including ad hoc drop boxes for easy content and metadata submission from third parties, seamless integration with all standard LDAP directory services for user management, and a new multi-tiered deployment allowing for unlimited scale out of transfer capacity.

 
The Aspera faspex™ solution supports transfer of digital content from any major web browser using Aspera Connect, secure automatic distribution and download using the Aspera Cargo client, and direct transfer of files and directories of any size from within Microsoft Outlook, using the upcoming Aspera Outlook Plug-in.
 
“Enterprises increasingly receive and distribute large volumes of data at global distances both within their organization and with third parties”, said Michelle Munson, Aspera president and co-founder. “The faspex™ solution combines the speed and predictability of Aspera fasp™ transport for content of any size, with ease-of-use, rapid setup, end-to-end security on the wire and at-rest, and support for very large user communities. This latest release expands the capabilities enabling third parties to upload content and metadata from anywhere in the world, using a simple email invitation. In addition, configurable encryption-at-rest policies and the Cargo automatic downloader allow organizations to distribute content to large numbers of users or endpoints in a single operation.”
 
“Combined with the Aspera Server cluster support, LDAP directory authentication, and the Microsoft Outlook plug-in, this release has been a significant advancement for our customers and is enabling rapid expansion of the installed base supporting larger user populations and many new use cases since its availability in mid-October,” Munson added.
 
Seven significant new features of faspex™ Server 2.5 include:
 
  • Powerful New Drop Box Capability—Drop boxes enable easy submission of content and metadata from users and third parties through email invitation. Now users from anywhere in the world can contribute and upload content without a local faspex™ account. Metadata is fully configurable per drop box, captured on the faspex™ server as XML, and fully integrated with Aspera Console for tracking and reporting on faspex™ transfer history, including reports organized by project metadata. Contribution and upload privileges for each drop box can be set to auto-expire using configurable policies. 

  • Fully Integrated, Automatic Downloads—Integration with the Aspera Cargo Downloader, a freely downloadable desktop client for Windows and Mac OS X, provides an easy, flexible and automated way to securely distribute files directly to people or endpoints. Drop box and standard submissions, in addition to faspex™’s multi-server relay feature, are fully integrated with Cargo, allowing easy end-to-end distribution of content to global clients.

  • Advanced Policy-Based Encryption—Encryption at rest policies can be set per drop box or system wide, for both standard submissions and drop boxes, and include a new policy allowing the sender to determine if encryption at rest is used. Fully integrated with Aspera Cargo Downloader and Aspera Connect, the decryption of downloaded packages is a simple one-click operation.
  • Expanded User Authentication—Following the integration with Active Directory in version 2.0, faspex™ 2.5 now fully supports all standard LDAP directory services for import, synchronization, and direct, secure authentication.
  • Unlimited Scale-Out—A new multi-tier application architecture enables separating the faspex™ web application from the underlying Enterprise Server, and allows the Enterprise Server software to be deployed in cluster configurations for unlimited scale out of transfer performance and network capacity.
  • Expanded Web Browser Compatibility—Aspera Connect, the web browser plug-in enabling high-speed Aspera fasp™ transfers, adds support for Google Chrome for Mac OS, plus native 64-bit support for the latest versions of all major browsers on Windows, Mac, and Linux–Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Chrome.
  • New Outlook Plug-in—faspex™ 2.5 supports transfers from a new Aspera plug-in for Microsoft Outlook currently available in beta release. Attachments of large files and directories are sent and received via Aspera faspex™, without the user ever leaving Outlook. No software or configuration is required on the Exchange Server.
The Aspera faspex™ server also now supports a concurrent licensing model, based on the number of active authenticated users connected at a given point in time, allowing licensing to scale with usage.
 
For further detail, please our customer announcement.
 
Availability
 
Aspera faspex™ 2.5 for Windows or Linux is available now for download. Existing faspex™ customers who wish to upgrade to version 2.5 should contact Aspera’s customer service team at support@asperasoft.com.