Filr – Next Generation File
Experience
NODS demo overview
Alex Warmerdam
IT Consultant
alex@warmas.com
External/Outside the Firewall
HTTPS
Filr Appliance:
• Authentication - eDir, AD
• FAMT - NCP, CIFS, HTTPS,
WebDAV file access
• Notification and Search (Comet,
Lucene, QuickFinder)
• New Social Storage: Leverage
existing storage in Novell or
Microsoft ecosystems
Filr Clients:
•Windows 7 & XP,
MAC, Android, iPhone,
iPad
2
Filr Clients:
• Policy Driven
• SSO with Novell, Microsoft
• FileSpaces - Next Generation
F:DRIVE
 NCP, CIFS, HTTPS access
 Sharing, Notifications, Search
 File Sync
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Novell
Environments:
- NCP, CIFS file
access
- NSS Filesystem
CIFS
CIFS, NCP, HTTPS,
WebDAV
CIFS, NCP
“Filr” Architecture Overview
Microsoft Env.:
- CIFS file access
- NTFS Filesystem
- 3rd Party NAS
CIFS
CIFS, NCP
Filr Appliance
Filr v1 Release
Simple appliance install approach
•
Local Administrator Account / Password
•
Server Name
•
Network IP address – DHCP or Manual
•
Finalize Configuration via the browser
3
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cross Platform access
Filr v1 Release
Users can be enabled from eDirectory or Active
Directory environments.
Users can access file resources from eDirectory and
Active Directory environments.
Users can access file resources across multiple
eDirectory trees, and Active Directory Domains.

Users must exist in each corresponding environment
Policies are applied against a Directory Service User,
Container: eDirectory or Active Directory
4
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Filr – Web based Administration
Filr v1 Release
5
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
What are File Spaces
Filr v1 Release
Next Generation Mapped Drive without the Drive Letter
•
A UNC path to a NSS Volume, Windows Share, NAS CIFS Share
Provides new capabilities to existing Storage
•
On-the-fly end-user controlled sharing of files and folders

•
Internal, external users, its like sending an email, right click, share, tweet about it !
Send & receive notifications – Tweet-like messages to users about the files
you share and update.
Native Habitat: integrated into Device/OS Folder View
6
•
Windows File Explorer, Mobile Device Applet view
•
Windows Library Filr Folder
•
File Sync with Merged-views between local and Network storage
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
A bit more about File Space Types
Filr v1 Release
Admin Controlled (FileSpaces)

Points to an “existing” NSS volume/folder, Windows NTFS Share, or NAS
CIFS Share where data is in use thru standard mapped drives

Admin Controlled FS may need to have more restrictive settings for sharing,
notifications, and synchronization controls.

Filr policy can disable sharing, notifications, and synchronization.

Existing Quota settings are honored

Basic File Versioning support
Personal Ad Hoc (Filr Storage)
7

Points to Free Space Dedicated for Filr File Sharing.

Supports NSS, Windows NTFS Shares, or NAS CIFS Shares

Users can create their own personal File Spaces for personal and
collaborative sharing needs

Quota can be set on Users

Basic File Versioning support
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Enterprise Controls: File Space Policy
Filr v1 Release
Location, Display Name, and Type



Location: A UNC path to NSS, NTFS Windows Share, or NAS
Display Name: appears as a folder under the Neutron Library on the device
Type: Admin Controlled, Personal, Ad_Hoc
NOTE: Concurrent FileSpace access to eDirectory & Active Directory. You can
create a FS Policy pointing to a NSS Volume, and another FS Policy pointing to
a NTFS Share. The user (password sync’ed) must exist in environments.
Behavior Settings




Enable Sharing. External, Internal or Both
Enable File Synchronization
File Synchronization Filters – based on File/Folder Meta Data
Enable Notifications
Associations

8
Associations must be selected – eDirectory and Active Directory. Association
can be applied to Users, or Containers.
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
What is a “Merged View”: File Spaces
Filr v1 Release
File Space Policies Control:
• File synchronization to a workstation/device
• File Sync based on file meta data (access & modification
times, size, extension)
• User See’s a Merged view between files locally
synchronized and files remaining on Server Storage (NSS,
NTFS, NAS)
CIFS, NCP
File Space
• Local Filr Managed Library
• Folders (File Spaces) display both:
 Locally synchronized files/folders
 Server Hosted files/folders – not synch’ed
9
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
• OES, NetWare NSS Volume/Folder
• Windows NTFS Shares
• 3rd Party NAS CIFS Shares
Filr on Windows 7: Everything in One Place
Next Generation Mapped Drives:
Access existing Network Shares and NCP
Volumes
10
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Filr on Windows 7: Everything in One Place
My personal files:
-
-
11
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Users Home
Directory on existing
server – Novell
NetWare, OES, or
Windows, & NAS
Synchroniztion of
Home Folder
Filr on Windows 7: Everything in One Place
Files/Folders others shared
with me:
With Comments, Synchronized,
Leased Times (share for specified
time frame, 1 month, year, etc.)
12
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Windows 7 Plugin Capabilities
Windows File Explorer Integration Features

Context Sensitive menu (Filr FileSpaces)

Sharing & Notification right-click dialog

Favorites shortcut, FileSpace Library
TrayApp Notification Area Features

Sharing, File Tweeting message pop-ups
Search

FileSpaces via Windows Native Search Capabilities

Personal, Shared, Corporate Wide
FileSpace Access Behind the Firewall:

Novell NSS volumes via NCP, CIFS

Microsoft Network Shares (NTFS) via CIFS

HTTPS and WebDAV
FileSpace Access Outside the Firewall:

13
HTTPS access to NSS, MS Windows Shares, NAS CIFS Shares
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Filr Android App
iOS (iPhone/iPad) will be supported too
14
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Android and iOS applets
Filr v1 Release
FileSpace Access

HTTPS access to NSS, Windows Shares, NAS CIFS Shares

File sync - selective

Filr Server proxies access

Sharing and File Tweeting
Notification

Receive, and send sharing notices, and file tweets
Search

FileSpaces - Personal, Shared, Corporate Wide
Android OS Versions

v2.2 Froyo
iOS versions:

15
iOS v4.2.1 – iPad, iOS v4.3.2 – iPad2: Neutron v1.1
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Users Share Externally
Outside the Enterprise
16
•
Public – Share files with external users with no file
collaboration capability – Similar to emailing a
document today with an external party.
•
Public Trust – Share files with external users, external
users authenticate to Filr (openID & Token Auth) and
can collaborate on files (based on permissions)
•
Corporate maintains control over content – allowing
files to either remain in corporate storage (tight
controls), or allowed to get copied off and used
externally (loose controls)
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Novell Filr: Platform and System Specifics
•
Filr Appliance Deployment platform: VMware virtual appliance
–
Coming: XEN, Hyper-V, etc. based on customer demand
•
•
•
File Server storage targets: NetWare, OES/Linux, Windows
Server 2003/8, NAS: NetApp, and EMC Celerra
Client-side: Windows 7 & XP, MAC, Browser, Android, iOS
(iPad/iPhone
Directories: Active Directory, eDirectory
–
17
Note: no schema extensions are required
© Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.