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NFC Vault : Do your branch office employees need better remote file access to corporate file servers?

Is your current VPN method for remote file access disrupting your employees? Do you have high latency between your various locations? Do you need to share files remotely from the same file servers?

A story most businesses can relate to

This story is about a franchise company with a corporate headquarters and franchise branches throughout North America. In such a distributed and dispersed business environment, employees are constantly on the move and need to access their applications and data outside of the headquarters.

Like most other businesses, this company uses a VPN for remote access, but encountered several problems. Lousy Internet or a weak Wi-Fi signal were among the issues users faced that made file access extremely difficult. High latency resulted in poor results and user experience, with response times ranging from 90 to 100 milliseconds.

The company also tried remote desktop solutions from Citrix and VMware for remote access, but setting up and maintaining a remote desktop system was very expensive. It required hardware, software, ongoing maintenance, upgrades, training and support.

Copying files from franchise offices to file servers at corporate headquarters became a nightmare. In addition, off-site file sharing required copying corporate data to cloud storage services such as Dropbox or ShareFile, resulting in Data Sprawl and higher costs. The company simply wanted to provide its field employees and franchisees with secure, mobile access to on-site file servers.

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First attempt to solve the problem

The first attempt to solve the problem is to move the company's file servers into Azure and AWS to create a hybrid cloud-local environment. The file servers "in the cloud" should provide good bandwidth and high availability for distributed teams at North America. However, some other VPN-related issues arise in the process.

Lift-and-shift has added to the slow VPN problems.

Which VPN should I use - double hop?

After moving the company's file servers to the Azure or AWS cloud, do you switch to using the Azure/AWS side of the site-to-point VPN or do you continue to use the current VPN on the corporate firewall? In a hybrid environment, most organizations choose to continue using the existing VPN setup because remote workers are familiar with this way of working. In this type of setup, the path to the new file server for remote workers is to first tunnel into the corporate network and use the site-to-site VPN to reach the file servers in the cloud. The double hop contributes to the slowness of the VPN.

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Concurrent VPNs?

Since there are two VPNs now, the first VPN was on the corporate firewall before lift-and-shift. The second VPN is the site-to-point VPN that Azure and AWS offer. On a client device, employees can not use two VPNs at the same time. They must choose one or the other, but not both.

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A single point of failure?

Let us say remote workers are still using the old VPN to tunnel into the corporate network before accessing file servers in the Azure or AWS data center via a site-to-site VPN. In this case, the corporate network becomes the single point of failure. Because it is typically located in an office building, remote workers cannot access the file servers if there are power or Internet disruptions.

HTTPS tunnel from Data Centers / Cloud

You can set up a web-based file access path directly from your file servers.

Let us say you have already moved your file servers to Azure or AWS. In this case, you can use a web-based file access solution to turn your file servers into a SharePoint-like service and provide direct file server access without a double-hopping VPN.

NFC Vault Solution

Mobile Sharing

Employees can share files and folders with external business partners with permission controls, expiration dates, and web links.

Mobile Access

NFC Vault leverages cloud storage for secure mobile file sharing via a web browser or mobile app

Web Access

Accessing files and folders directly from a web browser is as interactive as from a desktop drive.

Remote Access

NFC Vault connects file servers and cloud storage for secure remote access without VPN.

Three Features Combined!

Remote File Access

The solution provides remote access to file servers via web protocols without the need for a VPN. The Access Agent is always on and always provides a drive letter for remote access. There are also web browser-based file manager capabilities and mobile apps.

External File Sharing

The solution provides web browser-based file sharing capabilities. Sharing files and folders is as simple as right-clicking on a file or folder and sharing it as a web link. The receiving party can view or download the shared items. Collaborators can also use the same Web Link features to receive and upload files.

Device Backup

Device backup is one of the solution's many data protection features. More and more employees are working from home using devices provided by the company. They may not permanently store documents on a company-provided drive letter. Instead, they may store them in the local Documents folder. Device backup can protect these files that reside on a remote device.

Folder Permissions

Define different permissions for folders at different levels of the directory structure or inherit from NTFS permissions directly.

Secure Data Room

Web-based secure data room allows view-only access to shared folders with download disabled.

Active Directory

You can define user rights for folder sharing from internal Active Directory users to external clients and partners..

Version Control

Access shared files and folders in an offline mode, disconnected from the Internet, and synchronize them when back online.

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Product Illustration

Co-Editing

NFC Vault integrates with Office 365 to enable web-based collaborative editing and co-authoring of files within the shared folder.

Large Folder

Use Outlook integration to share large folders or files as web links via email.

Link Sharing

Convert shared files and folders into web links for direct access via web browsers.

Mobile Application

Access shared files and folders from mobile devices, such as an iPhone or Android phone.

Reduce Data Sprawl

Data stays on the company’s file servers. Existing permissions govern remote and mobile access. Editing and modification of files is permanently stored in the original file location.

Enforce Permissions

Combines NTFS permissions, Active Directory users and drive mappings with mobile access from any device.

Maintain Compliance

Adopts file server compliance and enables administrators to perform HIPAA or GDPR compliance audits and generate reports demonstrating compliance with mobile file access and collaboration.

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Remote File Server Access Benefits!

Cloud style mobility and local file server security are working together in a unified fashion.

Ensuring Data Privacy

Organizations can address privacy concerns by using NFC Vault to modernize file servers. When there is often discussion of replacing existing file servers with cloud solutions, to reduce costs and management overhead, and NFC Vault can facilitate this in any private cloud. However, NFC Vault offers the unique ability to use existing file servers as a replacement for sharing files in the cloud!

Mobile Access to File Servers

Simplify remote access to file shares with familiar interfaces on any computer or device! Windows and Mac desktops display natively mapped drives in Explorer and Finder. That same experience presents on iOS and Android devices like iPads, iPhones, and Pixels or popular web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Internet Explorer.

Increase Productivity

Provide an always on mapped drive that works anywhere on any device and allows mobile users to access network file shares or cloud file servers easily. Windows file server network shares and shared drives can be turned into online shared folders guarded by the same security measures that come from on-premise file servers and governed by the same Active Directory.

Enhance Data Security

Files are secured at rest and in transit with military-grade encryption, session timeouts, and more. Automatically use existing users and permissions to save setup time and money. With these features and same users are in place with the Windows file server, the security parameters are similar and simpler than a public online sharing service and easier to pass compliance audits.

Simplify File Share Access

Easily collaborate with business partners by providing them with access to a limited set of internal files or folders. Share files with non-AD users while maintaining administrative controls and file locking. Mobile users collaborate with automatic version controls and file locking. Mobile users can collaborate on the shared folder as if they were from an internal network.

On-Demand Synchronization

Mapped drives display directory structure but delay downloads until a file is selected to reduce bandwidth usage and endpoint storage. Component Shared Drives can become cloud drives with files to be actively downloaded or viewed (as in a browser cache) until users generate access intents.

Reduce Costs with a Simple "VPN"

Reduce the overhead and support tickets commonly associated with VPN file sharing, Always On VPN, or Direct Access. Eliminate VPNs. The same Active Directory users and permissions can govern mobile users and web clients. With the NFC Vault server, files and folders remain under control, and the protocols used (HTTPS and REST APIs) don’t open specific inbound ports like VPN tunnels do.

White Labeled File Sharing Solution

NFC Vault provides a white-labeled platform that makes it easy for managed service providers to add a file sharing solution based on current on-premise file server and Active Directory infrastructure. MSPs can offer file server mobilization with their own brand! Multiple tenants and data centers can be placed within pre-set branding support.

Simplify Management

Centralized setup, billing, usage stats, and storage for each tenant. Easily keep track of who has data, who has access and where. NFC Vault helps MSPs manage multiple tenants and their data and helps internal IT departments with usage visibility. Administrators can track changes to the management console and create reports on the usage.

On-Premises Alternative to Dropbox and SharePoint

NFC Vault has the flexibility to provide an on-premises alternative to Dropbox, OneDrive, and SharePoint. With the familiar mapped drive from public domains or private networks, users can continue to work from the file server without changing how they work and without disruption.

Centrally Manage Granular Folder Permissions

When files are shared externally, administrators define permission structures per folder and subfolder. NTFS permissions will be inherited by NFC Vault and continue to control access to those folders.

Maintain Compliance

Adopts file server compliance and enables administrators to perform HIPAA & GDPR compliance audits and generate reports demonstrating mobile file access and collaboration compliance.