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[Grakelin]

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/signiant-is-pleased-count-game-developer-ubisoft-as-file-transfer-solution-customer-1615993.htm

Ubisoft has just become a customer of Signiant, one of many vendors who sell Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions, which make sending massive files really fast and easy. Like, really fast. Sending a 30gb file can take hours using FTP, but minutes using MFT.

How do you guys think this will affect the gaming industry? Turn around times are suddenly shortened immensely in a way most people don't necessarily think about. It's possible this might help developers hit their release dates AND provide on quality.

Thoughts?

(PS: I'm a marketing writer for an MFT vendor (not Signiant) now. AMA)

[nenjin]

In Ubi's case it'll do very little until they find a DRM solution that doesn't treat the whole world like Russia.

Also:

Like, really fast. Sending a 30gb file can take hours using FTP, but minutes using MFT.

Which still takes users hours considering the average cap for people is 1.5 mb/sec. People with higher tier service might be able to take advantage of it, but really this will benefit providers more than customers.

[GlyphGryph]

I'm not seeing how sending 30gb of data is actually possible in minutes over the average users net connection. Sure, it may be fast on THEIR end, but really - there's only so much throughput on a line.

IS it just a really good compression algorithm with decent unpacking speed, or what?

[Grakelin]

It syncs up with their zealous security policy, because MFT is also designed with compliance law in mind. I can see them installing this AS their DRM, to be honest.

I'm not seeing how sending 30gb of data is actually possible in minutes over the average users net connection. Sure, it may be fast on THEIR end, but really - there's only so much throughput on a line.

IS it just a really good compression algorithm with decent unpacking speed, or what?

It's designed for business networks, not home use. Though, Bluewhale File Server has a home-user version.

I'm not really a techie, but it's using a more efficient UDP protocol that doesn't lose your packets all the time and uses most of your wire. Signiant actually has documentation on how it works amongst their marketing materials.

To kind of give you an idea on how fast this technology goes, Signiant claims 100x the speed of FTP, FileCatalyst 30-120x, and AsperaSoft 1000x. Everybody is hopping on the bandwagon and making their own version, too, so I think that within the decade all businesses will have some form of it.

[Aklyon]

If you don't want to lose packets, you use a TCP protocol. UDP is called "best effort" for a reason.

It's designed for business networks, not home use.

I don't see how this will help anything gamewise, business networks and gaming don't usually collide unless you're at Valve or somewhere.

[Grakelin]

You must not have read my first post, Akylon. Did you know that businesses make video games?

Excuse me a moment while I go get the documentation. MFT isn't actually new. It's been tested and observed.

Greg Pettit sums up some of MFT's benefits and how it does what it is doing on the FileCatalyst blog:

http://www.filecatalyst.com/what-problems-are-we-solving/

He's one of my favourite tech marketers, even though his company got caught using puppet accounts to review the product back in '09.

[Aklyon]

I can see how it'd work for making a game and things like that, but most of the previous posts seemed like this was more focused on how it would affect ubisoft's customers.

If it works, I'm not going to complain about its UDP that badly though. Things that work well are good.

[GlyphGryph]

Ah, sorry, I misread something. As a network solution that makes a LOT more sense. Heh.

I see it definitely helping to cut costs, but I wasn't aware that that file transfers was one of the major development bottlenecks. Still, anything to help deadline slippage...

(Of course, you know they'll just use this as an excuse to shorten dev times even more and nothing will actually change)

[Grakelin]

The way I see it, and the reason this is the story that made me mention it (EA also uses an MFT server), Ubisoft is benefiting because their company is so decentralized. If they need to send something from France to Canada, it will take a lot longer over FTP than it will using MFT.

It actually would work for the home consumer, but it's only sold at the enterprise level at the moment, so it is prohibitively expensive. While speeds obviously wouldn't be as fast as the office, the acceleration would still apply to a home connection. Ubisoft could send the data to your house far more quickly than they could before.

This would actually synergize with the DRM model they have where they make you download the game while you play.

[Aklyon]

How exactly would it work with an average home connection, though?

[Grakelin]

Exactly the same way it works on a business connection. It just wouldn't be able to go as fast, obviously, because the home connection is physically lesser than the business one. It's just software.

This Danish guy has one with a free web-based version that I like for personal uses. I don't think it has the speed, but I find it easier than using MegaUpload (especially now hurr hurr hurr), since it sends a DL link right to the recipient's inbox, then tells you when they've downloaded it.

The ability to see when the person has downloaded the file has been used by online merchants to catch people who try to chargeback scam, because it gives a receipt that proves the person actually did, in fact, get their product, and that no bugs have occurred.

[lordnincompoop]

I, for one, am interested in the technical side. Whitepaper anywhere?

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/signiant-is-pleased-count-game-developer-ubisoft-as-file-transfer-solution-customer-1615993.htm

Ubisoft has just become a customer of Signiant, one of many vendors who sell Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions, which make sending massive files really fast and easy. Like, really fast. Sending a 30gb file can take hours using FTP, but minutes using MFT.

How do you guys think this will affect the gaming industry? Turn around times are suddenly shortened immensely in a way most people don't necessarily think about. It's possible this might help developers hit their release dates AND provide on quality.

Thoughts?

Since this is in-house stuff, it likely won't affect anything overly much from our perspective, though it may productivity in the building.

(PS: I'm a marketing writer for an MFT vendor (not Signiant) now. AMA)

So, is this thread a marketing ploy so you'll be able to push our products on us down the line, or is it a subtle marketing scheme to advertise your employer's products to potential customers?

How exactly would it work with an average home connection, though?

That's what I'd like to know. It seems most of the benefits with this technology is in smaller networks such as those found in these companies, but if they could be leveraged to improve downloading speeds for the end-user, for example, that'd be interesting to hear.

FAKEEDIT: Seems the answer to my last request is "yes, it works for end-users". Am I getting this right?

[nenjin]

So, is this thread a marketing ploy so you'll be able to push our products on us down the line, or is it a subtle marketing scheme to advertise your employer's products to potential customers?

Don't begrudge him the right to be interested in what his competitors are doing and wanna discuss it. And his pitch is so subtle, he forgot to hyperlink the first post.

[nenjin]

I think this is a good example of why high data transfer rates can be very beneficial to large companies.

Although in FB's case I'm sure they've just got crappy software and/or a vested interest in keeping all the content users upload stored somewhere for their own purposes.

[eerr]

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/signiant-is-pleased-count-game-developer-ubisoft-as-file-transfer-solution-customer-1615993.htm

Ubisoft has just become a customer of Signiant, one of many vendors who sell Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions, which make sending massive files really fast and easy. Like, really fast. Sending a 30gb file can take hours using FTP, but minutes using MFT.

How do you guys think this will affect the gaming industry? Turn around times are suddenly shortened immensely in a way most people don't necessarily think about. It's possible this might help developers hit their release dates AND provide on quality.

Thoughts?

(PS: I'm a marketing writer for an MFT vendor (not Signiant) now. AMA)

Uhhh, everybody else prays to the good lord that they aren't aren't scattered across multiple continents.