WFS is a Java-based Web file server that implements the HTTP protocol. It can be run on any platform that supports Java. This two-tier system is designed to allow high expandability, and it lets both users and administrators manage the system through Web browsers or access and work with files stored on WFS.

The two components of the WFS are the storage back end and the Web access front end. If an administrator finds that too many users are trying to access the system at once, an additional computer running the Web front end can be started, and any number of the load-balancing systems available can be used to distribute the load across each node. If the system needs more storage, storage nodes can be added.

Full of Features and Ready to Use

In addition to offering basic file access over the Web or from WebDAV, WFS also has some cool management features for controlling access and limits. WFS lets admins set quotas on individual directories. By default, users added to the system are given a quota on their home folder. I was able to set the default quota as well as override an individual quota set on the user when the account was created.

In addition, WFS can limit bandwidth on directories. The administrator can set the amount of bandwidth per time period each directory is allowed to use. The system lets administrators set a global time period (in hours) for which all the limits are set. I was able to limit a user's directory to 5 MB an hour, for instance.

Vendor Information Xythos WebFile Server 3.2, $25,000 (for a 1,000-user license). Available: Now. Xythos Software, (415) 248-3800, (888) 499-8467; fax (415) 276-8376. www.xythos.com

Once the limit was hit, the system would not let the user access any of the files in that directory until the next hour. This is a plus: If a user were to create a popular Web site on the system, the bandwidth that site is allowed to have would be limited. WebFile Server does not provide any reporting of bandwidth, but that is planned for a future release.

WFS also lets the administrator enable versioning for user files. This is particularly useful for documents that are going to be edited by more than one person. In addition, the administrator can enable activity logging. Once that function is set, a user can turn on logging for individual files to check activity.

Sharemation

The WFS user interface accessible from Web browsers is called Sharemation. I found the default Web interface to my file store quite easy to use.

After I logged into the Sharemation site, I was presented with a view of my home directory of files. From here I was able to work with the files store, including uploading/downloading files and setting parameters such as file-access permissions. The entire Sharemation site can be customized with style sheets and by editing various JSPs (JavaServer Pages). Xythos also provides an API to let you customize the system. I didn't have any problem using WFS Sharemation from Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape browsers.

One of the primary features of WFS is that each user on the system can share a file or folder with a group or individuals. The owner of the files can specify who has read, write, delete and administrative rights. Additionally, a user can make a folder public to let anyone, even those without accounts on the system, access the files from a Web browser. This means each user could set up his or her own home Web page, and viewing it would require just pointing a browser to WFS' URL. There is no FTP access into the system, but that is probably a good thing -- FTP uses clear-text passwords on the wire.

One additional sharing feature I found useful is the ability to grant tickets to a file. If the administrator enables this feature, a user can create a ticket that gives someone who does not have an account on the WFS system access to a file without having to give public rights to that file. When creating the ticket, you can specify the lifetime of the ticket, ranging from five minutes to 10 years. In addition, you can specify how many times the ticket can be used to gain access to the resource as well as the permissions to the resource -- read, write or both.

This feature would be of particular use in academia, letting faculty and students collaborate with people around the world. Instead of the administrator's having to keep creating accounts for each collaborator, the user can just create a ticket and provide the URL to the remote user. WFS does not provide any tracking of ticket usage, but Xythos is considering it for a future release.

As a user, I was even able to specify a quota for one of my folders. This way a shared folder of mine could be prevented from using up my entire quota. I could ask for a limit higher than the quota the administrator gave me on my home folder, but the parent directory quota would still be the limiting factor. That is, if the administrator put a 20-MB quota on my home folder, I could attempt to put a quota on a subfolder of 40 MB, but it would still be limited to the 20-MB quota the administrator set.

Another feature of Sharemation I liked is the ability for each user to create a set of bookmarks to locations in the system. If my friend gave me access to a folder on his account, for instance, I could add a bookmark to his folder that would be present each time I accessed the Sharemation site.

Xythos WebDAV Client

In addition to using the built-in Windows Web folders that are part of Microsoft Windows 98/2000/XP, Xythos includes its own client software. The XC (Xythos Client) installs on Windows 98/NT/2000/ XP. The XC lets a user have a WebDAV source appear as just another drive on the computer. This client also integrates into the Windows Explorer to enhance the right-click options on files and folders, letting you grant file permissions, work with versioning or lock a file to prevent changes by others.

The client uses a local cache of files to enhance performance. I found the performance of XC acceptable, and I was pleased with the ability to mark files and folders to be available offline, which let me work with my files on a laptop when it wasn't connected to a network. The client synchronized any changes to files I made after I reconnected.

If you have more than one WebDAV source available, the XC would let you connect to multiple sources at once.

The file-locking feature worked as expected when I used Microsoft Web folders to access the WebDAV store. If I opened a document in Microsoft Word from one machine and then tried to open the same file on another machine, I was notified that the file was locked and in use, but I could open a read-only copy. I selected the option to notify me when the lock was removed, and shortly after I closed the file on the first machine, I was notified the file was available.

Enterprises that are looking for a file-sharing and management service would be remiss in ignoring Xythos' latest offering. From law offices to publication houses to universities and anywhere else that managed document sharing is necessary, the WFS is a viable and price-worthy solution.

James E. Drews is a network administrator for the CAE Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Send your comments on this article to him at jdrews@nwc.com.