How can you elevate your local file server network share to the cloud? You can set up a cloud network drive for your remote workers to share web folders at work or home office.
"Everybody globally has access to the same files, which are all up-to-date and accurate, from a system that's also secure and easy to implement."
CHRISTOPHER JESMAN
Director
Panorama Antennas
"Now we can go to any healthcare provider in the Netherlands and say this is all functioning according to Dutch healthcare regulations."
ROB CHRIST
Director & Co-owner
Damecon
"CentreStack is the best file server replacement solution on the market. They aren't just leading the market, but they basically created a new market."
STEPHEN MONK
CEO
Noverus
Many public cloud services provide you with a desktop folder where files are synced to a third party site and ready to be synced again to remote PC, Mac and mobile devices. This method works well for home users. However, corporate employees may have a different daily workflow that depends on the drive mapping feature to handle files and folders within a PC drive letter or volume mounted from a Mac.
When it comes to shared folders at work, network drive is one of the standard practices. Shared network drives or file server network shares are usually large and have a granular folder and file permissions attached.
These two factors (size and permissions) promote cloud network share over sync folders when it comes to cloud storage services.
If the folders are large, synchronizing with a local folder requires much more bandwidth and local storage. If the files are large, the unnecessary synchronization saturates the bandwidth of the local network and slows everyone down.
When the shared folder has granular permissions set, the synchronization folder method breaks down completely. The synchronization folder will typically need to have the files pulled into the local folder before users can read and write operations.
Employees sometimes need to work on sensitive data such as those files and folders under non-disclosure agreements. Businesses usually manage these files and folders on a need-to-know basis with limited exposure. The synchronization folder will pull in these kinds of files.
The cloud drive brings in files from the cloud repository only when necessary and only when permission allows.
Encrypt files sitting in the local cache and backup local files and folders to a company-designated cloud location.
Inside the cloud drive, users can revert the files under version control to specific dates and times when necessary.
Provide a global file locking feature for employees that may need to work on the same set of documents.
Provide a cloud network drive to the company-wide cloud network shares or the hybrid local file server network shares.
Employees may prefer to work on files and folders in an offline detached mode (such as doing work during flights).
You have an existing file server like Windows 2016 in the local office. Everyone in the local office is using a network share from the file servers. Some users from the branch office may need to access the file server share from outside through VPN as well.
There are multiple problems that you are concerned about at this moment.
First, you are concerned about the life of the file server, and if the server stops functioning, you need to have a quick way to continue the work. However, if you can extend the life of the file server and maximize the return of the previous investment on the file server, you don't want to throw the file server out any time soon.
Second, the remote users complain about the speed of access to the file server since they need to go through a VPN. It is cumbersome and slow. You are also looking for a VPN alternative method to access the file server.
In general, you have built your company infrastructure around Microsoft File Server and Windows network share. You would like to extend the file server with cloud capability and extend the file server network share to the cloud so remote office and branch office will have easy access, while cloud is serving as a backup and recovery media to the file server.
CentreStack gives on-premise file server new remote web access, file sharing & mobile application capabilities while retaining the old security safeguards, permission controls, and data ownership. It allows you to share files and folders with existing permission! More importantly, CentreStack presents a cloud network share interface with cloud network drive capability to employees working remotely.
CentreStack File Server Agent allows you to attach File Server Network Share to the cloud. Once it is connected, it synchronizes data to the cloud storage service in the background. Meanwhile, the file server content can be immediately assigned to a team folder, allowing remote users immediate access.
On the one hand, it solves the access problem for the remote user. On the other hand, you have a backup copy in the cloud. Once the local folder on the file server is entirely in sync with the cloud storage content, you are ready to shift the center of the team workspace from the local file server to the cloud.
After installing CentreStack, the Cloud Server Agent is installed on the local file server. This setup will automatically synchronize file shares, AD users, and NTFS folder permissions to the CentreStack installation in the cloud.
After login, users automatically get a mapped drive that contains all the shares they have access to, just as if they were on-premise.
CentreStack maintains synchronization with the client file server until it has been retired. It also remains the primary source for permissions and acts as an optional proxy to the local domain controller.
When a user attempts to open a file on the endpoint, it is downloaded from the backend storage configured for CentreStack and cached locally for fast future access.
Remotely access file shares from a drive letter on Windows and a mounted volume on Mac.
Minimize storage and bandwidth consumption by automatically syncing and caching only the files you need.
Encrypt remote agent caches or revoke remote agent access privileges from a central management console.
Access shared files and shared folders in an offline mode detached from the Internet and synchronize when back online.
Define different permissions for folders at different levels of the directory structure or inherit from NTFS permissions directly.
CentreStack can mirror a local file server into cloud storage for a hybrid cloud server setup.
From internal Active Directory users to external clients and partners, you can define user rights for folder sharing.
CentreStack adds version control and file protection from cloud storage to the local file server.
Easy remote access to file server network shares with a mapped drive and without a VPN.
Web browser-based access and mobile application access to data-center hosted file server network shares.
Businesses find themselves having to purchase new file servers every few years. These capital expenditures can be eliminated by migrating file shares to the cloud with CentreStack. Users can continue to work on the existing file shares without disruption, and the file server can be retired once the migration is completed.
Simplify remote access and file sharing with familiar interfaces on any computer or device. Windows and Mac desktops display natively mapped drives in Explorer and Finder. That same experience is presented on iOS and Android devices like iPads, iPhones, and Pixels or can be viewed from popular web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Internet Explorer.
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. Simplify multi-site collaboration with automatic version controls and file locking.
Eliminate the overhead and support tickets commonly associated with VPN file sharing, Always On VPN, or Direct Access. Automatically use existing users and permissions to save setup time and money. The cloud mapped drive is always on without the VPN connections.
Eliminate the need to manage servers on-premises by retiring them to the cloud. Centrally manage users, access controls, and storage for each tenant. Easily keep track of where the data is, who has access and how it's being shared.
For complete control and visibility, granular permissions can be managed from the file server that was their source or natively with CentreStack. If the file server is retired, CentreStack becomes the new permissions master.
Centrally manage users, access controls, and storage for each tenant. Easily keep track of where the data is, who has access and how it's being shared. Admins can perform audits of GDPR and HIPAA compliance or keep track of any changes that have been made to individual files.
Provide an always-on mapped drive that works anywhere on any device and allows mobile users to access internal file shares or cloud file servers easily. Users are already familiar with the mapped drive, and no extra training is required.
Data protection comes with military-grade encryption, secure connections, and more. Automatically use existing users and permissions to save setup time and money.
Cloud mapped drive leverage local cache and on-demand download to reduce bandwidth usage and endpoint storage consumption. Cloud mapped drive technology works with a laptop with a small local SSD drive.
CentreStack provides a white-labeled platform that makes it easy for MSP partners to build a private cloud file server solution based on infrastructure from Amazon, Azure, or Google.
For data privacy, security, and control, CentreStack provides a better alternative to Dropbox and SharePoint using any private cloud or on-premise file server network shares.