Reliable file transfer on the Internet using distributed file transfer, DFT

Abstract

Transferring files over the Internet is extremely common, hence the protocol, FTP. However, the functionality, and reliability of FTP relies on lower layer protocols. Improved performance mechanisms have yet to be deployed that combine the ubiquity of FTP, high reliability, and fault tolerance. This thesis describes the design and implementation of such a mechanism called Distributed File Transfer (DFT). DFT establishes multiple FTP sessions with multiple FTP sites transferring different segments of a file simultaneously. It switches to other servers if some server becomes overloaded or unavailable. A Load Distributing Server (LDS) in DFT collects server information and distributes load among multiple servers. Experiments presented show that DFT is both reliable and efficient.