Method and system for performing a server-assisted file transfer
First Claim
1. A machine-implemented method, for transferring a file from a first computer to a second computer, the first computer having a file transfer application instance, comprising:
- establishing and maintaining, at an Internet-accessible computer, a connection between the first computer and the Internet-accessible computer;
upon receipt at the Internet-accessible computer of a request from the first computer, the request associated with a file to be transferred to the second computer, generating a data string that identifies the file and the file transfer application instance;
providing, from the Internet-accessible computer, the data string to the first computer, the data string provided over the connection;
upon subsequent receipt at the Internet-accessible computer of a request from the second computer, the request associated with a URL that encodes an address of the Internet-accessible computer and the data string, de-referencing the URL by extracting the data string to identify the file and the file transfer application instance;
providing, from the Internet-accessible computer, an instruction to the file transfer application instance to initiate a transfer of the file from the first computer to the second computer via the Internet-accessible computer, the instruction provided over the connection; and
receiving the file at the Internet-accessible computer over the connection; and
forwarding the file from the Internet-accessible computer to the second computer, wherein, during the file transfer, at least one of the first and second computers does not accept incoming Internet connections, wherein the file is transferred through the Internet-accessible computer without being cached or stored in the Internet-accessible computer.
15 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A file transfer application maintains a secure connection over the Internet with a file transfer gateway. A user selects a file and the file transfer application requests a unique ticket from the gateway. The ticket is stored in both the gateway and the file transfer application. Next, the ticket is then encoded in a URL that can be sent to potential recipients of the file via conventional methods. Upon entering the URL into a web browser, the recipient will navigate to the file transfer gateway. The gateway decodes the URL to recover the ticket and looks up the ticket in the database to determine the associated application instance and file description. The gateway will then request the application instance to start encrypting and streaming the contents of the file identified by the ticket to the gateway, which then retransmits the encrypted stream to the recipient'"'"'s web browser.
17 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A machine-implemented method, for transferring a file from a first computer to a second computer, the first computer having a file transfer application instance, comprising:
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establishing and maintaining, at an Internet-accessible computer, a connection between the first computer and the Internet-accessible computer; upon receipt at the Internet-accessible computer of a request from the first computer, the request associated with a file to be transferred to the second computer, generating a data string that identifies the file and the file transfer application instance; providing, from the Internet-accessible computer, the data string to the first computer, the data string provided over the connection; upon subsequent receipt at the Internet-accessible computer of a request from the second computer, the request associated with a URL that encodes an address of the Internet-accessible computer and the data string, de-referencing the URL by extracting the data string to identify the file and the file transfer application instance; providing, from the Internet-accessible computer, an instruction to the file transfer application instance to initiate a transfer of the file from the first computer to the second computer via the Internet-accessible computer, the instruction provided over the connection; and receiving the file at the Internet-accessible computer over the connection; and forwarding the file from the Internet-accessible computer to the second computer, wherein, during the file transfer, at least one of the first and second computers does not accept incoming Internet connections, wherein the file is transferred through the Internet-accessible computer without being cached or stored in the Internet-accessible computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system, comprising:
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a file transfer application instance executable on a first computer; and an Internet-accessible computer operable to transfer a file from the first computer to a second computer, the Internet-accessible computer comprising; a processor; computer memory; and computer program code stored in the computer memory that, when executed by the processor, performs the steps of; establishing and maintaining a connection from the first computer; upon receipt at the Internet-accessible computer of a request from the first computer, the request associated with the file, generating a data string that identifies the file and the file transfer application instance executing on the first computer; providing the data string from the Internet-accessible computer to the first computer; upon subsequent receipt at the Internet-accessible computer of a request from the second computer, the request associated with a URL that encodes an address of the Internet-accessible computer and the data string, extracting the data string to identify the file and the file transfer application instance executing on the first computer; providing an instruction to the file transfer application to initiate a transfer of the file from the first computer; and receiving the file at the Internet-accessible computer and forwarding the file to the second computer through the Internet-accessible computer, wherein during the file transfer at least one of the first and second computers does not accept incoming Internet connections, wherein the file is transferred through the Internet-accessible computer without being cached or stored in the Internet-accessible computer. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A machine-implemented method for transferring a file from a first computer to a second computer, the first computer having a file transfer application instance, comprising:
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upon receipt at the Internet-accessible computer of a request from the first computer, the request associated with a file to be transferred to the second computer, generating a data string that identifies the file and the file transfer application instance; sending the data string to the first computer from the Internet-accessible computer; upon subsequent receipt at the Internet-accessible computer of a request from the second computer, the request associated with a URL that encodes an address of the Internet-accessible computer and the data string, de-referencing the URL by extracting the data string to identify the file and the file transfer application instance; sending an instruction to the file transfer application instance to initiate a transfer of the file from the first computer to the second computer via the Internet-accessible computer, wherein the instruction is sent from the Internet-accessible computer; receiving the file at the Internet-accessible computer; and forwarding the file from the Internet-accessible computer to the second computer; wherein, during the forwarding of the file, at least one of the first and second computers does not accept incoming Internet connections; wherein the file is forwarded from the first computer to the second computer without being cached or stored in the Internet-accessible computer. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification