Question : Sharing files with clients

I need to have a way of sharing files with clients. Here are my needs:

Each client can only have access to their own files in their own directory
Secure connection must be possible - prefer to have it enforced
Clients should be able to delete and possibly upload files to their own directory
If possible give certain users access to all directories
Clients should be able to download files using only web browser
Url for each client should look like http(s)://mywebsite/download/clientx where clientx=client username.

Prefer that client be able to do everything (upload, download,move files, etc) using only web browser.
Prefer that solution could run on Linux box
Prefer that once solution is up and running that a non-admin person be designated to create and remove users/directories, create/change password, etc as needed.

I am considering vsftp as a possibility but it is not clear to me if it will support http type connection without Apache being installed. Also was thinking of just configuring Apache to allow connection to home directories only then creating users (with their associated home directories) as needed.


The solution will run on a dedicated box outside of our firewall. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Answer : Sharing files with clients

A dedicated NAS/FTP server does not use any MS OS or apps.

A couple of drives using SAMBA type NAS/FTP servers would work fine. You don't need to consolidate all 100 users on a single FTP server and many FTP servers don't handle 100 users simultaneously and do it very well.

If you send your customers a link to use it is fairly simple.

When I want someone to access an FTP server, a browser will accept the following format:

   ftp://username:userpassword@serverurl.com

Or if they just connect with ftp://serverurl.com they will be prompted for a user name and password, which is quite normal and expected for a user/password type account.

The advantage of putting in "username:password" in the initial ftp:// url is that it usually avoids having the server ask for the username and password multiple times as the user navigates his personal directories.

On the firefox browser, they can use the free addon called "fireftp" -- it looks a lot like the best FTP clients, with the user's directories on the left, and the ftp directories on the right. Files can easily be dragged from left to right, or right to left.

Using the "My Computer" in WIndows is even easier. Not the Microsoft internet browser, but go directly to the "my computer" program (windows explorer vs. internet explorer).

In the address bar, instead of navigating to a hard disk, have your clients simply type into the address line the URL to the ftp server. E.g.  ftp://username:userpassword@serverurl.com

When you put this in the Windows "my computer" address line, it does in one step what might take two steps if going through the internet explorer. It immediately opens the FTP site, and for the client (your client) it looks like any other hard disk directory, and allows dragging files into it, and out of it, from another open window pointing to a drive on the user/client system.

I don't think I've missed your point, because I do what you're trying to do, and with users who are not sophisticated, and none of this requires buying an FTP client program, or knowing all that much about
how FTP works, except that they type in FTP where they used to type in HTTP

Just a different transfer protocol -- one for files, one for hypertext.

Give it a try.

Jeff