File Transfer Service

The Qlik File Transfer Service (FTS) is a robust and reliable file transfer engine designed to efficiently transfer files over the WAN. This can dramatically improve transfer speeds when the source endpoint and the target endpoint are located on different LANs.

How it works

A solution using FTS consists of two Qlik Replicate Servers: A local Qlik Replicate Server installed on the source endpoint LAN and a remote Qlik Replicate Server installed on the target endpoint LAN.

A local task on the local server is defined from the source endpoint to a File Channel target. A remote task on the remote Qlik Replicate Server is defined from a File Channel source to the target endpoint.

The FTS runs on the remote Qlik Replicate Server only and transfers the File Channel files from the storage location defined in the local task to the storage location defined in the remote task.

Upon file transfer, and before Compression and Encryption, large files are split into smaller blocks which form recoverable transport units, and small files are merged into bigger blocks to be sent at the same time. The blocks are then transferred and reconstructed into File Channel files when received by the FTS server.

For information on setting up a File Channel source or target to use FTS, refer to the Qlik Replicate Setup and User Guide.

Compression

File Channel files are compressed upon sending using GZIP. You can disable the compression and control the compression level.

Encryption

After compression, File Channel files are encrypted using a randomly generated AES-256 session key. The session key is exchanged between the client and server using the Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol which is authenticated using a secret key that is shared between the client and the server.