Transfer Server

Before configuring Aspera Faspex to communicate with a remote transfer server, it is important to understand how it is able to do so. Aspera Enterprise Server™ or Aspera Connect Server™ v3.0+ features the Node API, a daemon that offers REST-inspired file operations and a transfer management API. When you install Aspera Enterprise or Aspera Connect Server 3.0+ on a local/remote system or EC2 instance, it becomes an Aspera "node." Aspera Faspex can be installed on the transfer node, or it can access the transfer node remotely via the Node API. This topic explains how to configure Aspera Faspex to access a remote transfer node and directory shares.

First, make sure that you have Aspera Enterprise or Aspera Connect Server 3.0+ installed on the remote machine, and have followed the steps in "Setting up a Remote Server" to prepare the machine. To continue, make sure you have the following information at hand:

• The node computer's hostname or IP address, along with a port and path (if applicable).
• The node API username and password, which you created when you set up Aspera Enterprise Server on your node machine.

If you do not have this information, please refer to the admin guide for Aspera Enterprise Server or Aspera Connect Server v3.0+.

Transfer Server Configuration Screen

From the Aspera Faspex web UI, go to Server > File Storage to configure access to the node that manages your Aspera transfers. If Aspera Faspex was installed with the streamlined option, your transfer server (the node where Aspera Enterprise Server or Aspera Connect Server is installed) is configured by default as being on the same machine as your Aspera Faspex Web server (by default, 127.0.0.1). When you initially view the File Storage page, you will find that the IP address or domain name is the same as that of your Web server, as shown below. On a fresh install, the default Aspera Faspex transfer server, localhost, is the only server listed on the File Storage page, and its default storage directory, packages, is shown as the default inbox destination.

If Aspera Faspex was installed with the detailed option, your transfer server (the node where Aspera Enterprise Server or Aspera Connect Server is installed) is configured to be a remote server. When you initially view the File Storage page, you will find that the IP address or domain name is that of your remote server, as shown below. On a fresh install, the remote Aspera Faspex transfer server is the only server listed on the File Storage page. In this case, the default storage directory, packages, will not be functional until valid node admin credentials (empty by default) are entered for the remote server.

In the above display, you will also see a summary of sources (from where files are sent) and inboxes (where received files are stored). For details on inboxes and file storage, see File Storage.

To configure a different machine as your transfer server, click the Add New Node link, which takes you to the New Node configuration screen:

Transfer Server Address for the Web Server

For a streamlined installation, your transfer server address, by default, is 127.0.0.1, because Aspera Faspex is installed on the same machine as your transfer server (i.e., Aspera Enterprise or Aspera Connect Server v3.0+). To run your transfer server on a different machine, you need to tell the Aspera Faspex web server where that machine is located so that Aspera Faspex can gather transfer statistics and display them via the Web UI. Consider the configuration in the following example:

In the image below, the New Node screen has been filled in for the above configuration:

Once you have entered this information, you can test the node connection by clicking the Test Connection link. If you have a group of users that needs to use a different transfer address (as in the example configuration above), this can be set in the Advanced Configuration area as described in the next section. Otherwise, at this point, you can click Create to add the transfer server node to your Aspera Faspex configuration. For information about adding file storage to this node, see File Storage.

Transfer Server Address for Users

In the example configuration above, the Aspera transfer server is accessible by different host names for both internal and external users. Thus, we can complete the "Advanced Configuration" section as follows:

• Your Web server communicates with the transfer node using 100.100.100.100.
• Your internal users communicate with the transfer node using xfer2.yourcompany.com.
• Your external users communicate with the transfer node using xfer1.yourcompany.com. In addition to specifying a secondary address/name, you can also set conditions for when the secondary address is to be used (e.g., if the requester's IP address matches X.X.X.X or the browser hostname matches outside.vendor.com).