(Note: Aspera Transfers are available to online paid users and users of Team Workspaces)
Within Ci, we offer Aspera transfers: A powerful client that is used for reliable and fast data transfer regardless of file size or user location. In this article, we'll walk you through enabling, installing, and utilizing Aspera to transfer files.
First, click on the Avatar icon near the lower-left corner of the UI to open User Settings. Select the option to turn on Aspera transfers (see figure 1). Please note that when this is enabled, Aspera will be the default transfer protocol and standard upload/download (HTTP) will be turned off.
Figure 1: Enabling Aspera transfers
Upon enabling Aspera, you'll be greeted with a modal that outlines the steps to install and use Aspera to transfer files (see figure 2). These instructions are reiterated in this support article as well. After going through the pages, you have the option to install Aspera in the UI by selecting Proceed to install, or download the plugin from Aspera web page and install it as a regular application:
---> https://www.ibm.com/aspera/connect/
Figure 2: Aspera Connect Installer
Clicking the Install button on this prompt will direct the user to a webpage where they can begin the installation of the Aspera Connect Plug-in. With the newest versions of Aspera Connect be sure to also install the extension/add-ons.
To initiate Aspera Upload, click “Add New” -> “Upload” and select file(s) you want to upload.
To upload a folder with Aspera, click “Add New” -> “Upload Folder”
Once upload starts, the user can see its progress in the Workspace view:
Figure 3: “Uploading” file Status and Progress
Also, the user can get the status of upload as it happens from the Aspera Connect client. Just select the Aspera icon from the Dock, then click Window -> Transfers:
Figure 4: Aspera Connect Transfers window
Ci currently limits the speed of the Aspera uploads/downloads to 100mbps as a default depending on your network account configuration. If the user's connection is higher than that, then the speed limit can be changed by the user. For each file uploading (Aspera Connect defaults to 3 concurrent transfers) the user can select the Transfer Monitor with the heartbeat icon next to the uploading progress bar. This will open the Transfer Monitor window and the user will be able to set the speed by adjusting the arrow pointer on the left-hand side (given that the user has that available bandwidth to take advantage of). Once the speed limit is changed via the Transfer monitor, it will retain that change for future uploads. A user can also separately change the speed limit for downloads. Both of the upload or download speed limits will be respected separately.
Figure 5: Adjusting transfer speed
For additional guidance on using Aspera Connect for uploading, please see the article on Uploading to Ci: Best Practices.
For any additional questions, please reach out to the Ci Customer Success Team by submitting a request here in the Help Center.