Software Review: GigaTribe File Sharing Program - Page 3

This was supposed to be remedied by the private online Web browser-based area, wherein all your shared content is supposed to be accessible. However, no matter what I shared on which machines, this page always came up empty. It says something about "testing" at the top, so maybe this feature isn't finished.

Of course, transfer speeds are bottlenecked by the sender's upload speed, so the program can't be blamed or praised for under- or over-performing in this area. Commendable are the encryption and download resuming features it possesses, though. Should you get kicked off from a power or connection failure, you can pick up right where you left off without losing any data.

Another upside to this program is that, unlike Web hosting services like Box.net, there is no limit to how large your individual files can be, or how much you send at a time. There is no hosting, so the limitations are only on the actual computers used by the sender and receiver. However, unlike Web hosting solutions, you'll have to leave your computer on and online pretty much whenever you want your friends to have access to your files, similar to FTP.

It says in the FAQ that once you connect to another "friend" using the program (someone you've invited into your private group), there is no middleman; your files are directly sent from one machine to the other, and that no record of what is sent or when is kept by GigaTribe's servers. They may route it through their servers to optimize the transmission, but that's all. Users keep a personal record of uploads and downloads within the program, though you can't delete individual items from the list. You either clear them all or none.

What's not entirely clear is whether file transfers are explicitly dependent on GigaTribe's online presence remaining active. With a virtual networking service like Hamachi, even if their central server shuts completely off, the program will maintain your "tunnels" to the other active users on your virtual network, allowing you to send and receive data even without the main program provider being active or online. If GigaTribe provides similar host-absent connectivity, it's not specified anywhere that I could find. If it does support this, that could give it some longevity and usefulness beyond if/when ShalSoft stops supporting it down the road.

Hamachi also provides a similar service to GigaTribe, making any Windows shares (folders, drives, etc.) optionally accessible to other people on your virtual Internet network. It also allows you to actively send files rather than receive only the way GigaTribe does (unless the other user has granted you full read/write access to a folder). So for instance, if I have a new video I just put together and I want my friends to see if, with Hamachi I could just tell them all to get online, then I would copy/paste it to their main hard drives. With GigaTribe, you'd have to put the video on your computer, then get in touch with the people you want to receive it, tell them where it is, and hope they don't get lost trying to find it (though there is a chat function built into GigaTribe that may help with things like this). While this does prevent the spread of malware and the like, it should theoretically be less of a problem anyway, since you're only receiving files from people you invited in in the first place. The main advantage to GigaTribe over Hamachi is that the program can specify shared folders independent of your existing Windows shares, so you don't have to change default shared folders just to limit access from other users in your group(s).

Article Author: Mark Buckingham

Mark Buckingham is not only BC's Sci/Tech Editor-In-Geek, but also an avid freelance writer, gamer, techhead, reader, movie watcher, pianist, and hockey player.

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