About the StarkFiles Service...

Email messages with large attachments can wreak havoc on email servers and end-users' computers. Downloading such email messages can take hours on a slow Internet connection and block any sending or receiving of messages during that time. In some cases, the download will fail repeatedly, breaking the recipient's ability to receive mail at all. Also, Internet email clients add considerably to the size of the file being sent. For example, saving an Outlook message with an attachment adds up to 40% to the file's size. To share files larger than 1MB, use the StarkFiles to temporarily make a file (or files) available to another user across the Internet, in a secure and efficient manner.

There are two distinct kinds of users that will be accessing the StarkFiles system: inside users, who are associated with the County running the service, and outside users, which encompasses the rest of the Internet.

An inside user is allowed to send a drop-off to anyone, whether he or she be an inside or outside user. An outside user is only allowed to send a drop-off to an inside user. That prompts the question: what is a drop-off? There are two ways in which a user can dropoff multiple files at once:

• Attach each file individually on the dropoff page
• Archive and compress the files into a single package and attach the resulting archive file on the dropoff page. There are many ways to archive and compress files:
  • Mac users can select the files in the Finder and Compress (see the File menu)
  • Windows users can create a "compressed folder" or use WinZip
  • Linux/Unix users, give the zip utility a try

Creating a Drop-off

When a user creates a drop-off, they enter some identifying information about themself (name, organisation, and email address); identifying information about the recipient(s) (name and email address); and choose what files should be uploaded to make the drop-off. If the files are successfully uploaded, an email is sent to the recipient(s) explaining that a drop-off has been made. This email also provides a link to access the drop-off. Other information (the Internet address and/or computer name from which the drop-off was created, for example) is retained, to help the recipient(s) check the identity of the sender.

Making a Pick-up

There are two ways to pick-up files that have been dropped-off:

• All users can click on the link provided in the notification email they were sent.
• An inside user, once logged-in to the system, can display their "Inbox" which is a list of all drop-offs waiting for them. Once logged-in, an inside user is able to access drop-offs without needing the email message.

When viewing a drop-off, the user will see quite a few things:

• The list of files that were uploaded
• The sender and recipient information that the sender entered when the drop-off was created
• The computer name and/or address from which the drop-off was created
• Optionally a list of pick-ups that have been made

The recipient has 365 days to pick-up the files. Each night, drop-offs that are older than 365 days are removed from the system.

Please note that the uploaded files are scanned for viruses, but the recipient should still exercise as much caution in downloading and opening them as is appropriate. This can be as easy as verifying with the sender mentioned in the notification email that he or she indeed made the drop-off. One can also check the computer name/address that was logged when the drop-off was created, to be sure that it is appropriate to the sender's Internet domain; IP addresses can be faked, though, so the former identity verification is really the most reliable.