Peer to Peer file sharing start-up, Pando Networks has developed a cool little plugin for Microsoft Outlook, that allows people to send large files right from within Outlook. It makes sharing big files such as Powerpoints, videos and large sized PDFs a breeze.
The best part is that you can attach files you normally would, and if it is up to a specific size, the file would be sent using the email. However, if the file is say bigger than specified 20 MB, then Pando will automatically offer to package them and insert a small .pando file in their place. The recipient(s) open your .pando attachment to start a direct P2P transfer of the large file(s) you attached. You can attach files as large as one gigabyte, and share them using Pando. The plugin is going to be available later, but you can sign-up for a beta right now.
Pando is part of a growing number of P2P start-ups that are developing ways to overcome the short comings of email’s ability to handle large sized files such as video clips. Other start-ups in this space include Hamachi, Perenety, Zapr, Peerfactor, and Wired Reach I have written about this personal P2P trend a few times, here, here and here.
Cool. Do you need Pando to download the file or just to send? It’s a very good looking product.
I wonder how Vista is going to react to all these file sharing upstarts? I don’t think Outlook has been renovated in recent (this year) memory but Ray is all about communication, so maybe it’s time has come.
I wonder how this is going to work in a corporate enviroment: Lots of companies have firewalls only alowing http (and email) transfers, blocking this. Besides, I wonder if I would want to install another program, just to get a certain file. The classical critical mass/network effects thing…
In our compliance-necessary IT environment, we need to know what’s being sent, by whom, to whom and when. This sounds like another one of those p2p apps that we need to block. For my users that need to send big files that I’m required to track, we’ve been using OutDisk, an integrated ftp solution for Outlook. It provides the same convenience but FTP lets us control the storage facility.
I think Pando is more appropriate for C2C usage. In the enterprise environment, it is not realistic to think that IT would allow an user-driven application to substitute a process that has both business (compliance, for example) and IT (security and storage management, for example) implications.
Having said that, I think Pando is onto something. Giving users a familiar UI to send large files since this is becoming a real issue in most core business processes. The trick is to find a solution that will satisfy both the end users and IT requirements.
I think (admittedly biased) Accellion’s Courier Secure File Transfer Appliance (SFTA) is an outstanding and, more importantly, field proven solution that lets users securely send folders and 10 GB files via familiar email interfaces while giving IT full control in the back-end. http://www.accellion.com
Warm regards, YFJ
How does this differ from other sites that allow you to mail large attachments? (mailbigfile, etc) While the integration with existing software and OS is nice, the recipient needs to then download software, which is a bit of a pain.
Theres another cool service out there for this as well that is just coming out in beta. No file size restrictions at all, and they have tracking features and some other cool stuff coming out. Check them out at http://www.dliveo.com
I like Pando’s plug-in, but it requires everyone to download the client, which is a major hurdle to sharing files.
There’s another cool plug-in for attachments – it’s called SendShield. This one is more about making sure you don’t send Word attachments with tracked changes or other editorial details which you usually don’t want others to see: http://www.sendshield.com
I got lots of shared music through pando files and I cant open them even though I have downloaded the free downloads.
Thanks for the article, I know someone who can use this. Personally though, I agree with Oden’s comments, when companies are needing to meet compliance and present audit-trail capabilities (especially when dealing with extremely confidential data), it’s best to stay away from the P2P software, and instead use a secure managed file transfer solution or similar.
I’m personally leery of something like, this, that requires users on both ends to have their software. I prefer to use a service like FilesDIRECT to send large files and store them online: send 2GB files even with the free plan, storage starts at 2GB, it includes 128-bit SSL encryption on all transfers, AND there’s no software to install.