FileCatalyst | Accelerated File Transfer Software
What is FileCatalyst?
FileCatalyst is a robust accelerated file transfer software solution that supports client/server architecture, enabling the fast transfer of large files. Unlike other file transfer protocols that rely on TCP, it is optimized for high-performance data movement. FileCatalyst solutions are designed specifically to allow the transfer of large files over remote networks experiencing high latency or packet loss, making it the ideal solution for mission-critical transfers where speed and reliability directly impact business outcomes.
How Does FileCatalyst Work?
FileCatalyst solutions employ multiple techniques to yield speedy file transfer results.
FileCatalyst is a UDP-based protocol, which makes transferring large data sets much faster, even in high latency or packet loss environments. To cut down on time-consuming compression and decompression processes before and after a file has been transmitted, FileCatalyst compresses the files you send on the fly.
TCP streaming acts as FileCatalyst’s functioning safety net, which allows for file transfer acceleration to occur even when UDP is not possible. Additionally, FileCatalyst supports delta transfer algorithms which allows users to revise files and, instead of sending the entirety of the file, sends just the revision that was made. Once the revision arrives at its destination, the original file is modified.
- UDP → Maximizes bandwidth utilization
- Compression → Reduces transfer time
- Delta → Minimizes redundant data transfer
FileCatalyst ensures consistent performance even when operating in unstable network environments.
Why FileCatalyst?
FileCatalyst is an award-winning accelerated file transfer solution, known for achieving file transfer speeds much higher than other file transfer solutions.
- Maintain scalability
- Improve efficiency
- Move large files with no delays
FileCatalyst ensures a constant flow of data, thanks to automatic retransmission in the case of a lost packet of data.
Flexible Fast File Transfer Deployment Options
Accelerate your specific file transfer workflow with FileCatalyst's suite of applications. Each application is purpose-built to improve your file transfers. Start with FileCatalyst Server and choose the client application that best fits your file transfer requirements. Our solution is built to adapt to a diverse range of enterprise environments and use cases, supporting scalable deployments across global teams and infrastructure.
Not sure where to start? Take a look at this article to discover more about file acceleration options - [Accelerated File Transfers at Scale: How to Meet Enterprise Performance Demands.](/content/blog/accelerated-file-transfers-scale-how-meet-enterprise-performance-demands "Accelerated File Transfers at Scale: How to Meet Enterprise Performance Demands"/index.html)
You can rely on our years of experience to helping organizations resolve their fast file transfer issues with our convenient and powerful applications.
Benefits of FileCatalyst
FileCatalyst is the enterprise-grade solution for accelerating file transfers wherever you are in the world, and regardless of network strength. Large file transfers become much more sustainable and feasible with the FileCatalyst suite with benefits including:
- Accelerating time-to-delivery for large data sets
- Improving collaboration across distributed teams
- Reducing operational bottlenecks caused by slow file transfers
The FileCatalyst suite has the capability to maximize organizational productivity, ease collaboration across borders, secure confidential information, and simplify the need for heavy-handed IT administration.
Solutions
FileCatalyst Direct
FileCatalyst Direct utilizes UDP-based file transfer technology to enable accelerated file transfers from anywhere in the world. Even when experiencing network impairments, FileCatalyst Direct is capable of transferring your files with speeds up to 10 Gbps, saving your organization time and resources.
FileCatalyst Workflow
FileCatalyst Workflow is a web portal that allows users to share, modify, and track files with anyone within their organization. With the express intention of streamlining your organizational workflows, file areas are cordoned off for users to store files for processing and collaborative alteration. Like FileCatalyst Direct, FileCatalyst Workflow works wherever you are in the world.
FileCatalyst Central
FileCatalyst Central is a web-based tool that allows users to view file transfer in real time. Central’s monitoring capabilities include transaction history and report checks, system health notifications, remote configuration, and file transfer initiation.
FileCatalyst Integration with AWS, Azure and Dropbox
With its patented UDP-based file transfer technology, FileCatalyst easily integrates with popular cloud storage platforms such as [Amazon’s AWS](/content/products/filecatalyst/amazon "FileCatalyst on Amazon"/index.html), [Microsoft’s Azure](/content/products/filecatalyst/microsoft-azure "FileCatalyst on Azure"/index.html), and [Dropbox](/content/products/filecatalyst/dropbox-integration "Dropbox"/index.html) to deliver unmatched transfer speeds and robust encryption to these platforms.
With FileCatalyst integration, you can:
- Securely transfer large files into cloud storage platforms such as AWS, Azure, and Dropbox at multi-gigabit speeds with 256-bit AES encryption
- Achieve reliable file delivery with automatic retries and checksum verification
- Enable browser-based transfers using FileCatalyst TransferAgent
- Enable automated file transfers using FileCatalyst HotFolder or REST APIs
FileCatalyst FAQs
What is FileCatalyst?
FileCatalyst is a software solution that supports a client/server architecture to transfer large files. It is a software-only solution which circumvents the need to add special hardware or make bandwidth upgrades. [FileCatalyst](/content/products/filecatalyst/filecatalyst-direct "FileCatalyst Direct"/index.html) uses advanced technology to yield exceptionally high throughput, regardless of network conditions. In the end, this results in faster file transfers between remote locations even when there is high network latency or packet loss.
How does FileCatalyst accelerate file transfers?
FileCatalyst uses multiple techniques to yield exceptional results; in many cases, resulting transfers have virtual speeds faster than actual line speed. These techniques include:
- FileCatalyst UDP-based protocol: FileCatalyst uses a patent-pending UDP-based protocol that is faster in transferring large data sets when there is high latency or packet loss over the network
- On-the-fly compression: FileCatalyst compresses the data it sends over the network in real time, meaning there is no time-consuming compression or decompression at the beginning or end of each transfer. File sizes may be reduced by 50% or more, creating the illusion of transfers that exceed line speed.
- Multiple TCP streaming: In situations where UDP is not possible, FileCatalyst can achieve some measure of acceleration by running transfers through multiple concurrent TCP streams, along with on-the-fly compression.
- Delta transfers: If a file has changed since its last transfer, FileCatalyst can send only the “deltas” (incremental differences) of the file, rather than resending it in its entirety.
How does on-the-fly compression help FileCatalyst?
On-the-fly compression, one method used by FileCatalyst to accelerate file transfers, allows digital files to be reduced in size as they are sent. It uses the same principles as WinZip, Gzip and other compression utilities.
What differentiates FileCatalyst is that compression occurs as the file is being transferred, saving preparation time. As the files reach the recipient, they are decompressed and automatically stored in their original formats.
Less setup and teardown is required with on-the-fly compression, which becomes important when transferring a large number of files. Imagine the overhead involved in trying to send 1,000 files, as each file is individually created and closed by the server. Standard compression techniques interrupt the data flow, adding to the total time and making the file transfer appear slower.
Which protocols are used by FileCatalyst to transfer files?
FileCatalyst uses the UDP protocol for data transport and TCP for control commands and retransmission requests. FileCatalyst also provides a secondary firewall-friendly transfer method that enhances the performance of TCP by opening up multiple concurrent streams of data.
What is the UDP-based protocol used in FileCatalyst?
The UDP-based protocol used in FileCatalyst is proprietary. It is a highly efficient, patent-pending, retransmission, and congestion control mechanism that adds a reliability layer to UDP. The flow of data can achieve full line speed with an amazingly low 0.25% overhead.
Why is the FileCatalyst UDP protocol better than regular FTP, HTTP, or other TCP based transfers?
Both FTP and HTTP use TCP as the transport protocol. The inherent characteristics of TCP make it highly susceptible to network latency and packet loss. Even on a relatively stable network, TCP goodput is always lower than the actual available line speed. For example, on a T3 network (45 Mbps) with packet loss of 0.1% and a delay of 10 ms, FTP transfers can peak at only 30 Mbps.
In contrast, FileCatalyst yields goodput of 44 Mbps—only slightly less than maximum available line speed. When network conditions deteriorate to 2% packet loss and a delay of 150 ms, FTP transfers can be expected to perform at 450 Kbps, or 1% of the actual available bandwidth. FileCatalyst maintains its 44Mbps goodput.
How does FileCatalyst use multiple TCP streams to transfer files?
Rather than reading and sending the file sequentially, multiple threads read from the file and transfer pieces over their own TCP streams. These pieces are received and reassembled on the fly by an equivalent number of receiver threads. There is no latency during reconstruction as the pieces are written using random access. The number of streams can be tuned to achieve the desired throughput. This method of transferring files is effective when network degradation is at a reasonable level. Due to the large number of concurrent threads that must run to sustain high speeds, this method is not as scalable as FileCatalyst UDP-based transfers.
What is delta transfer and how does it help?
FileCatalyst supports an advanced “delta” transfer algorithm. Once a file is transferred in full, any new revisions will only require these incremental changes to be sent rather than the whole new file. Imagine, for example, a large database file. Sometimes only small portions of the database are changed, such as a single name or location field. FileCatalyst calculates these modifications as “deltas” and transfers only the new data. At the destination, FileCatalyst automatically amends the changes, bringing the file up to speed with the source. This ensures that bandwidth usage is kept to a minimum and results in a very high effective goodput.
How does FileCatalyst compare to a WAN accelerator appliance?
When all data must be accelerated between all of an organization’s WAN nodes, a WAN accelerator appliance may be a good solution. Such devices do a great job speeding up CIFS, Email, and Web, as well as a reasonable job improving FTP performance—providing network conditions are not too severe.
If the problem is not limited only to file transfer, a WAN accelerator may be an important part of your data infrastructure. In contrast, FileCatalyst only accelerates file transfers, but it does so better than any other product.
As a fast file transfer software solution, FileCatalyst is very easy to deploy and requires no physical changes to your network. FileCatalyst can guarantee full line speed or higher, regardless of link conditions.
Can FileCatalyst be used alongside managed file transfer solutions?
FileCatalyst can complement managed file transfer solutions because it adds high-speed data transfer capabilities. MFT provides automation, security, and governance, while FileCatalyst enhances performance for large or time-sensitive data transfers.
Is FileCatalyst suitable for global enterprise operations?
Yes, FileCatalyst is specifically designed to be used in global environments, enabling fast and reliable file transfers across regions, even when used on networks with high latency or packet loss. This makes it an ideal choice for distributed teams and international data workflows.
Why is FileCatalyst better than other UDP-based file transfer solutions?
File transfer solutions that use UDP for transport lack the speed and scalability of FileCatalyst. Due to the nature of UDP itself, packet transmission is not inherently guaranteed. All UDP-based solutions must track individual data packets to ensure delivery, and if a packet is lost, a message must be sent back to the sender to request retransmission. If this process is not handled efficiently, the performance will degrade substantially when packet loss is high.
FileCatalyst’s patented file sharing technology ensures a constant flow of data, never waiting for acknowledgement before proceeding, and always retransmitting concurrently with new data. The flow of data is constant—at the speed of your link.
Additionally, FileCatalyst’s extensive list of applications blows away the competition. With FileCatalyst’s fast file transfer solution, you can:
- Combine UDP transfers with on-the-fly compression and delta transfer.
- Enable web-based transfers using FileCatalyst’s TransferAgent technology.
- Deploy to the latest platform environments, NB for specific platform information please see our System Requirements page.
FileCatalyst and GoAnywhere
GoAnywhere MFT and FileCatalyst are both streamlined file transfer solutions in the [data security suite from Fortra](/content/solutions/data-security "Data Security Cornerstone"/index.html). Combining high-speed file transfer with enterprise-grade automation and security, they work together to move data faster while maintaining full control and compliance.