File Transfer Speed

Fast file transfer speeds save time, help meet submission deadlines, and let businesses respond more quickly to client demands. Industries dealing with big data, video production, or system backups need high-speed transfers to move large files without interruption.

Files.com is built for speed alongside security and flexibility. To support the fastest possible speeds, we have built many optimizations into the apps that we provide: automatically tuned parallelism, intelligent routing around corporate firewalls, and more. Much of this technology is also available in our SDKs.

The most important step in optimizing transfer speed is to use one of our custom-built apps. The sections below give our recommendations by environment and audience.

Best Options for Desktop

Desktop users need a graphical app that is easy to use and, optionally, integrates with the system file manager. Drag-and-drop lets users upload and download files regardless of size or quantity, and file manager integration makes remote resources appear as network drives or folders. Desktop apps are designed for manual, ad-hoc use.

Files.com Desktop App

The Files.com Desktop App is built for maximum transfer speed. It delivers the fastest upload and download rates by moving as much data as possible in the shortest time. Fast transfer mode handles both large files and large volumes of files, with parallel transfers and automatic retries that keep transfers running even when network conditions are unstable.

The app includes a graphical interface with drag-and-drop support, so no technical expertise is required.

In performance tests, the Desktop App transfers data 2x to 3x faster than third-party FTP and SFTP clients.

Web Browser

The web interface is optimized for fast HTTPS-based transfers in both directions, with automatic retries on file and folder uploads.

Third-Party FTP, SFTP, and WebDAV Apps

Third-party apps such as FileZilla and Cyberduck connect to Files.com using standard FTP and SFTP protocols. These apps support automatic retries and parallel transfers, but the protocols themselves are slower than the Files.com Desktop App and CLI, so transfer speeds are typically lower.

WebDAV is generally faster than FTP and SFTP, but the protocol is "chatty" over the network. Transferring a single file via WebDAV can be quick, while transferring many files or working against a server with large quantities of files and folders slows it down considerably.

Best Options for Servers

Server operators usually need apps that run on a headless system. These apps run manually from the command line, get invoked from scripts, or are installed as system services that start at boot.

If using a desktop UI on a server, follow the desktop recommendations instead.

Files.com Agent

The Files.com Agent is a small-footprint application that integrates on-premise or cloud-hosted servers with your Files.com site. It removes the need for custom scripts by letting you use the automation, remote mount, and remote sync capabilities of Files.com to interact with files and folders on your server.

The Agent provides the fastest data transmission speeds because of its use of UDP and parallel transfers. A single Agent can service multiple automations, remote mounts, and remote systems concurrently. All job control happens from your Files.com site, and the Agent can run as a system service so it is always available while the server is running.

Files.com CLI App

The cross-platform Files.com Command Line Interface (CLI) App delivers high data transmission speeds for command line users. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

The CLI app can be used interactively for ad-hoc uploads and downloads, or invoked from scripts for programmatic and scheduled transfers. It is well suited to integration with shell and PowerShell scripts.

In tests, the CLI app transfers data 2x to 3x faster than third-party FTP and SFTP clients.

Rclone

Rclone is a third-party command line app that includes Files.com among its supported integrations. The Files.com integration is optimized to provide data transmission rates similar to our CLI app, and is a good option for operators who want a vendor-neutral tool.

Third-Party SFTP Apps

Most servers ship with a built-in sftp command line client. The SFTP protocol isn't as fast as the options above, but it is widely available on server systems. If you cannot use any of the above options, sftp is a reasonable fallback when speed isn't a factor.

Best Options for Command Line

Command line use might be required, as on a headless system, or preferred for familiarity or for integration with shell and PowerShell scripts. Command line apps support both manual interaction and programmatic invocation from scripts, and the users of these apps are typically comfortable working without a graphical interface.

Files.com CLI App

The cross-platform Files.com Command Line Interface (CLI) App delivers high data transmission speeds for command line users. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

The CLI app can be used interactively for ad-hoc uploads and downloads, or invoked from scripts for programmatic and scheduled transfers. It is well suited to integration with shell and PowerShell scripts.

In tests, the CLI app transfers data 2x to 3x faster than third-party FTP and SFTP clients.

Rclone

Rclone is a third-party command line app that includes Files.com among its supported integrations. The Files.com integration is optimized to provide data transmission rates similar to our CLI app, and is a good option for operators who want a vendor-neutral tool.

Third-Party SFTP Apps

Most servers ship with a built-in sftp command line client. The SFTP protocol isn't as fast as the options above, but it is widely available on server systems. If you cannot use any of the above options, sftp is a reasonable fallback when speed isn't a factor.

Best Options for Business to Business (B2B)

Trading partners in a B2B relationship mostly use automated processes to transmit business documents. Smaller businesses sometimes exchange documents manually.

The largest gain in speed between partners typically comes from automating the process to remove manual steps.

Best Options for Mobile

Mobile users need apps that work on the go from a mobile device. These users may not have access to a PC or laptop, so the app must cover everything they need to accomplish.

Files.com Mobile App

The Files.com Mobile App for iOS and Android offers fast upload and download speeds for smartphone users. It is designed for smartphone screen sizes and uses parallel transfers for high transfer speeds.

Web Browser

For tablet users, the web interface is optimized for fast HTTPS-based transfers in both directions, with automatic retries on file and folder uploads.

Best Options for Developers and Application Integration

Developers need SDK and API options for tight integration with Files.com. Most developers work in their preferred programming languages, and with the emergence of iPaaS and low-code or no-code development environments, some developers prefer pre-built connectors.

Files.com SDKs

Our Files.com SDKs are available for multiple programming languages and are optimized for speed, parallel transfers, automatic retries, and geographic data routing. They simplify integrating applications with Files.com in your preferred language.

Our SDKs are used in our own apps, so developers can be confident of achieving the same data transfer speeds.

Although we love all programming languages equally, we've found that Go (GoLang) provides the fastest data transfer speeds of all our SDKs.

iPaaS Connectors

For developers who prefer low-code or no-code development platforms, we provide pre-built connectors for Power Automate / Azure Logic Apps, Boomi, MuleSoft, and Zapier. These connectors are built on our SDKs and provide the same fast data transfer rates.

The SDKs and iPaaS connectors are tied for first place; pick the one that matches your development environment.

Files.com APIs

Files.com provides RESTful platform APIs. Developers can integrate directly with the APIs, but any error handling, retry logic, and parallel transfer logic must be implemented by the developer.

Wherever possible, we recommend using an SDK instead of the raw APIs, since the SDKs already implement error handling, retry logic, and parallel transfers.

Best Options for Embedded Systems and IoT Devices

Embedded systems and IoT devices use small-footprint applications or operating systems to deliver customized solutions across industries. Files.com supports fast data transfers from these systems in several ways.

Embedded Application

If your embedded system or IoT device runs an embedded application, our SDKs are the right fit. Our Files.com SDKs are available for multiple programming languages and are optimized for speed, parallel transfers, automatic retries, and geographic data routing.

Our SDKs are used in our own apps, so developers can be confident of achieving the same data transfer speeds. Although we love all programming languages equally, we've found that Go (GoLang) provides the fastest data transfer speeds of all our SDKs.

Embedded Operating System

For systems and devices that host an operating system, we provide options for both server-centric and client-centric integration.

Server-Centric

For server-centric integration, the Files.com Agent can run on systems as small as a Raspberry Pi.

The Files.com Agent is a small-footprint application that integrates on-premise or cloud-hosted servers with your Files.com site. It removes the need for custom scripts by letting you use the automation, remote mount, and sync capabilities of Files.com to interact with files and folders on your server.

The Agent provides the fastest data transmission speeds because of its use of UDP and parallel transfers. A single Agent can service multiple automations, remote mounts, and remote systems concurrently. All job control happens from your Files.com site, and the Agent can run as a system service so it is always available while the server is running.

Client-Centric

For client-centric integration, the Files.com CLI app can be driven by embedded scripts.

The cross-platform Files.com Command Line Interface (CLI) App delivers high data transmission speeds for command line users. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS, and can be used interactively or invoked from scripts for programmatic and scheduled transfers.

In tests, the CLI app transfers data 2x to 3x faster than third-party FTP and SFTP clients.

Protocol Considerations for Speed

Many customers ask us about optimizing FTP, SFTP, or WebDAV connections for speed. Our first answer is to use one of our native apps if at all possible. FTP, SFTP, and WebDAV are older technologies that are less efficient for the fastest speeds.

If you are stuck using one of these older protocols, we recommend the following:

1. Prefer WebDAV, FTP, and SFTP in that order. Our modern version of FTP uses the same encryption strength as SFTP and is faster. For single files, WebDAV is even faster than FTP, but it slows down when many files are transferred or accessed.
2. Enable at least 10 and no more than 25 parallel connections in your app. More parallelism is generally better, but above 25 can cause problems for several apps.

If you are using 2FA (Two Factor Authentication), you must not use parallelism with FTP, SFTP, or WebDAV, because 2FA is only valid for one connection at a time. This is one more reason these protocols are suboptimal for speed.

Effects of Custom Domain and Regional Storage

File transfer speeds are also affected by the use of a Custom Domain and Regional Storage. The best transfer speeds occur when the custom domain and storage both reside in the same region.

For more detail, refer to Performance Implications (Custom Domain) and Caveat when using a Custom Domain (Regional Storage).