adminpf, Author at PowerFolder

PowerFolder Version 9 Service Pack 2 released – Client Kerberos SSO with Active Directory

Today we’ll present you the latest step of PowerFolder Sync, Share, Access and Backup solutions. We released Version 9 Service Pack 2 continuing the road of stability, usability and scalability.

This release contains the following main improvements and bugfixes:

1. Kerberos Single Sign-on for Windows Clients (Documentation). It has never been easier to deploy and maintain PowerFolder in an enterprise environment with many end-users. With the Kerberos login improvement end-users not longer need to separately enter their password at the PowerFolder client – it uses the current Windows account to login at PowerFolder Server :

2. Profiles to automatically configure a large number of clients by AD/LDAP group or IP address range. It’s now possible to set storage size (quota), additional permissions (change preferences, create new shares, etc.) and pre-configured paths to be backed up by the client based on Active Directory/LDAP groups:

3. Stability improvements for high available, load-balanced installations (Overview and installation documentation):

And many more. Read the full release notes of PowerFolder Server and PowerFolder Client.

Download PowerFolder Server and clients here

Visit us at the CeBIT 2014

We are looking forward to meet you at the CeBIT(10-14 MAR 2014 in Hannover), our booth is located at the stand of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hall 06/Stand F18.

Our main focus this year will be on partnerships and cooperation, which have proven mutually beneficial for us and our partners in the last years, so we are looking forward to meet new partners for development,resale and integrated solutions. But as always we are looking forward to meet our customers there as well, to discuss your requirements, our latest features and how we can together enhance existing Installations.

Thank you all for making us so successful in the last years.

It is highly recommended to schedule a meeting with us if you wish to discuss more complex matters, so we can reserve the time and the people to find the best possible solution for you.

Please contact us here via email or call us directly +49 2132 97 92 290 / +442036081905.

PowerFolder Mobile App v9 available – finally

Today we are proud to present PowerFolder Mobile App Version 9, which is finally available:

You requested – we listened – and developed the most advanced PowerFolder Mobile Sync&Share App ever. In this version we present you three major news:

1. Share files via QR code! It has never been so easy to pass over documents to colleagues, customers, partners or suppliers. No need to enter email address or names – the receiver doesn’t even need to have the PowerFolder app installed. Just click on “Share via Link” and the QR is instantly displayed on your phone – ready to be scanned. This also works from your desktop client or PowerFolder web portal.

2. Add to PowerFolder: Directly save email attachments, documents, photos from any other mobile app into your PowerFolder account. You can also directly access the QR code from there.

3. Usability and stability: A brand new, easy-to-use interface featuring a document search is also part of this release. Here are impressions of the app:

Install the PowerFolder Mobile App for Android via Google play now.

The iOS PowerFolder App will follow in the next weeks.

Documentation can be found in the PowerFolder wiki.

PowerFolder introduces federated, high-scalable, easy-to-use Sync&Share solution to international education and research networks in Zurich, Switzerland

Earlier this week on the 11-FEB-2014 PowerFolder presented its federated, high-scalable and easy-to-use Sync&Share solution for EDUcation and research at the TERENA task force meeting hosted by SWITCH in Zurich, Switzerland. TERENA is an association of European national research and education networks (NRENs) with members from over 40 countries. PowerFolder feels honored by the invitation and was pleased to meet so many experts from the international education and research community.

In the presentation we shared technical insights into PowerFolder On-Premise installations in Luxembourg (myDisk), GWDG Cloud Share in Niedersachsen, Germany (PDF) and into the largest EDU-cloud in Germany bwSync&Share operated by the Karlsruher Institut of Technology (KIT) serving up to 450.000 users in a federated, high-available installation funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and Art, BW (PDF).

The topics in detail were:

Current need of the scientific and educational community for dropbox-style, easy-to-use, Sync&Share tools for easier and safer international cooperation and collaboration.
The pros and cons of buying cloud services or host themselves and the related security and costs implications and considerations.
PowerFolder Sync&Share with federated authentication and authorization infrastructures (AAI), such as DFN-AAI, using Shibboleth/SAML 2.0 for Single-Sign-On (SSO) for web and non-web sync clients with rich user experience.
High-Scalable architecture of PowerFolder for high-available and load-balanced Sync&Share services through efficient peer-to-peer (meta) data handling.
Other aspects like integration and individualization, which typically need to be considered when planning an own on-premise Sync&Share service.

You can view/download the slides of the presentation here (PDF)

Here are the answer to the most common questions asked:

Do you offer special pricing for education and research organizations? Yes! Contact us for details.
What exactly is open and what is closed source of PowerFolder? Open-source is the code for core sync logic, user interface sync client, major parts of the networking code and several plugin. Closed-source is the web portal and the mobile apps. You can get the open-source code from GitHub.
Where can I find more technical information on PowerFolder? There is plenty of information available at the PowerFolder Wiki including installations guides.
How can I get quickly started with PowerFolder Sync&Share? The easiest way to get started is to download and install PowerFolder Server at a linux box (or windows) and open its web portal.
Contact us for an free, extended education trial license.

A big thank you goes to the TF-Storage team for organizing and to the SWITCH team for hosting this event! It was magic 😉

You are interested in working with PowerFolder?

We search for contributions in the area of Object Storage (CEPH / Swift) and
Advanced data security and encryption middleware
In return we offer free licensing of PowerFolder
Get in contact with us!

Screenshots of PowerFolder:

Customized web portal with identity provider (IdP) selection:

Customized sync client with Identity provider (IdP) selection:

Press-release: Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT) operates largest Educational Cloud in Germany

Karlsruhe. Since 1 January 2014 the nationwide largest Higher-Education-Cloud in Germany in operated by the Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT). Around 350.000 students and 100.000 employees of all higher education institutions in Baden-Württemberg are given the possibility to use the “bwSync&Share” cloud service powered by PowerFolder.

The full press-release is currently available in German only.

For more information in English please refer to our recent press-release publication on the bwSync&Share project (PDF download).

Pressmitteilung: KIT betreibt größte deutsche Hochschul-Cloud

Online-Speicherdienst „bwSync&Share“ für rund 450.000 Mitglieder der baden-württembergischen Universitäten und Hochschulen gestartet

Das Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) hat den Online-Speicherdienst „bwSync&Share“ zum einfachen Synchronisieren und Teilen von Dokumenten in Betrieb genommen. Der landesweite Dienst steht rund 350.000 Studierenden und 100.000 Beschäftigten aller Hochschuleinrichtungen in Baden-Württemberg kostenfrei zur Verfügung und bildet die bundesweit größte Hochschul-Cloud. Jeder Nutzer kann nun am Arbeitsplatz und mobil auf rund 10 Gigabyte Speicherplatz zugreifen. Der Speicherdienst wird vom Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst getragen.

Um in der aktuellen Forschungslandschaft bestehen zu können, müssen sich Wissenschaftler zunehmend einrichtungsübergreifend organisieren und kooperieren. Mit dieser Entwicklung steigt auch der Bedarf an geeigneten Werkzeugen, die eine solche Zusammenarbeit unterstützen. Die gemeinsame Bearbeitung und der einfache, sichere und flexible Austausch von Dokumenten – auch über Hochschulgrenzen hinweg – ist eine wichtige Voraussetzung.

Mit „bwSync&Share“ wurde am Steinbuch Centre for Computing (SCC) des KIT in Zusammenarbeit mit der Firma Power Folder ein Speicherdienst entwickelt, der den Austausch von Daten zwischen verschiedenen Benutzern, Computern und mobilen Endgeräten ermöglicht. Forschungsergebnisse, Hausarbeiten, Bilder oder Videos können gespeichert, geteilt und synchronisiert werden. Der Zugriff erfolgt dabei über Desktop-Systeme, Smartphones, Tablets oder plattformübergreifend über eine Web-Schnittstelle und bietet dem Nutzer so größtmöglichen Komfort. In der Startphase stehen für „bwSync&Share“ in Karlsruhe zunächst 500 Terabyte bereit. Der Speicherplatz pro Nutzer ist auf 10 Gigabyte beschränkt.

„Im Gegensatz zu anderen bekannten Angeboten wie ‚Dropbox‘ oder ‚Google Drive‘ werden die Daten nicht an ausländischen Serverstandorten, sondern an der Large Scale Data Facilitiy des KIT und damit im deutschen Rechtsraum gespeichert. Beschäftigte und Studierende der baden-württembergischen Universitäten und Hochschulen müssen sich also nicht mehr externen Cloud-Diensten anvertrauen, sondern können über diesen landesweiten Dienst einfach und sicher kooperieren“, erklärt Nico Schlitter, Projektleiter im SCC.

Die Daten der bwSync&Share-Nutzer werden am Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), also im deutschen Rechtsraum, gespeichert. Die Kommunikation zwischen den Endgeräten der Nutzer und den zentralen Speichersystemen erfolgt verschlüsselt. Der Datenzugriff ist beschränkt auf den die Daten bereitstellenden Nutzer und vom ihm autorisierte weitere Nutzer.

Die Nutzung von „bwSync&Share“ ist für Mitglieder der Landesuniversitäten und -hochschulen kostenfrei. Angehörige anderer Einrichtungen können den Dienst ebenfalls in Anspruch nehmen – ohne jedoch über einen persönlichen Speicherplatz zu verfügen.

Zugang zum Dienst und weitere Informationen: https://bwSyncAndShare.lsdf.kit.edu

Weiterer Kontakt:

Ursula Scheller, SCC, Tel.: +49 721 608-44865, Fax: +49 721 32550, E-Mail: ursula.scheller@kit.edu

Das Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) ist eine Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts nach den Gesetzen des Landes Baden-Württemberg. Es nimmt sowohl die Mission einer Universität als auch die Mission eines nationalen Forschungszentrums in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft wahr. Thematische Schwerpunkte der Forschung sind Energie, natürliche und gebaute Umwelt sowie Gesellschaft und Technik, von fundamentalen Fragen bis zur Anwendung. Mit rund 9000 Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern, darunter knapp 6000 in Wissenschaft und Lehre, sowie 24 000 Studierenden ist das KIT eine der größten Forschungs- und Lehreinrichtungen Europas. Das KIT verfolgt seine Aufgaben im Wissensdreieck Forschung – Lehre – Innovation.
us/kes, 03.02.2014
Weiterer Kontakt:
Kosta Schinarakis
Presse, Kommunikation und Marketing, Themenscout
Tel.: +49 721 608-41956
Fax: +49 721 608-43658
E-Mail: schinarakis@kit.edu
Die Presseinformation steht auch als PDF-Datei zur Verfügung.

New web presence and introduction offer

PowerFolder switched to a straight-forward user-based licensing, which allows users to install the clients software on unlimited devices including free mobile apps. Along with this PowerFolder has now a fresh reworked homepage to give you the information you need.

Check out our introduction offer

[button color=”” size=”small” link=”https://secure.avangate.com/order/product.php?PRODS=4612351&QTY=1″ target=””]Save 10% with Cloud products[/fusion_button] [button color=”” size=”small” link=”https://secure.avangate.com/order/product.php?PRODS=4600554&QTY=1″ target=””]Save 10% with On-Premise products[/fusion_button]

Service/Software valid for one year. Unlimited client app installations allowed. All software updates and Email-Support included for one year. Introduction offer is valid till 31-JAN-2014

Your new year, start it with PowerFolder – Version 9 is here

New features and improvements in version 9

– Register your free edition now including 5 GB of cloud space for up to 3 users
– Multi-tenecy (Organizations & Groups)
– Improved Client Backup configuration (via LDAP Groups)
– Simplified user interface (with Drag and Drop support)
– Federated Shibboleth Login

Read the full release notes here for client and server

Get your latest PowerFolder Version here:

[button color=”” size=”small” link=”https://www.powerfolder.com/download/#CloudTrial” target=””]For the Cloud[/fusion_button] [button color=”” size=”small” link=”https://www.powerfolder.com/download/” target=””]For On-Premise [/fusion_button]

PowerFolder Pressemitteilung November 2013 bwSync&Share

Permanent links (PDF): English or German

The decision has been made: PowerFolder prevails against several competitors. Almost half a million students and academics in Baden-Württemberg will be able to work with the Sync- and Share-Software from Meerbusch near Düsseldorf.

Karlsruhe. On 1 January 2014 the nationwide largest Higher-Education-Cloud in Germany is due to be launched. Around 350.000 students and 100.000 employees of all higher education institutions in Baden-Württemberg are given the possibility to work with PowerFolder.

Using the software they are able to save, share and synchronize documents like research results and term papers. The bwSync&Share-Service is then accessible for all higher education institutions in Baden-Württemberg.

Users can not only editing their data at the university or at home on their PC, they can also use and share their documents on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones.

This Private-Cloud-Solution is operated at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), responsible for the project is the state of Baden-Württemberg – which can further expand its leading position in research and development.

PowerFolder prevailed in an intensive evaluation against other Sync- and Share-Providers. The company scored with its years of experience, its service and flexibility. The solution seamlessly integrates into the modern hardware equipment of the higher education institutions. It enables the scientists to use their modern IT infrastructure even better.

Students and employees no longer need to carry their data on USB sticks or have to confide it to external Cloud-Services. Tax-Funded scientific research and knowledge remain within the country.

Christian Sprajc, Founder and CEO of PowerFolder: “We are very pleased that we were able to gain the trust of the state of Baden Württemberg, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and thousands of scientists. This shows that the topic of data security has become increasingly important.”

Background

PowerFolder, headquartered in Meerbusch near Düsseldorf, develops and provides Sync- and Share- Solutions since 2007 for Business, Education- and Research-Organizations. The medium-size company serves thousands of customers worldwide, who prefer to keep their data in-house while profiting from the efficiency and comfort to access corporate data anywhere from any device.

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is one of the largest research and education institutions in Germany and is one of the leading universities in engineering and science in Europe. http://www.kit.edu

Press contact PowerFolder:
Matthias Steinwachs
Phone: +49 2132 9797 298
press@powerfolder.com

New Documentation

Dear Customers,

it was a long way to go, but now we finished migrating all our documentation about our sync and share clients and file cloud web, from our old wiki system to our new documentation platform. As a new central point of entry to our synchronization client, cloud web and server documentation you can now use:

https://wiki.powerfolder.com

While doing that, we not only shifted content, but also reworked a lot of content, making it easier to read and understand. Furthermore it has been updated to match our latest releases. We recommend system administrators to let your users know about that, since it will greatly help them to use our solution and even discover possibilities, they have never known about before, e.g. running the client as a system service, restoring previous file versions using the file archive, sharing files and directories via link, scheduling synchronization, and more…

In the next days and weeks we will also shift the remaining knowledge base content, which was yet another system, to that new platform, so every piece of documentation about our sync and share clients and servers can be found at one place.

If you have any comments or if you are missing certain pieces of documentation, let us know by contacting our support department.

Enjoy!

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