IBM Aspera Alternative: Fast File Transfer of Large Files

IBM Aspera is a well-known software solution for sending big files at high-speed around the globe. It is based on the point-to-point UDP protocol that overcomes TCP/IP insufficiency over long-distance networks (WAN). Although it achieves maximum speed in point-to-point data transfers, it is not the best solution for other uses cases. In this blog post, we will review various use cases and discuss which ones are best addressed by Aspera and which ones require an Aspera alternative, like Resilio Connect.

Summary of Aspera vs. Resilio Connect: High-Speed Large File Transfer

This table provides a summary of which large file transfer and sync software solution is best for each use case, Aspera or Resilio Connect (an Aspera alternative). A more detailed explanation of each use case follows.

Use Cases for Aspera vs. Resilio Connect

File Transfer of a few large files from team A to team B
(Tie)

Aspera and Resilio Connect are both capable solutions when you need to send a few files between two locations over the wide area network (WAN). They both have acceleration technology and are much faster and more reliable than FTP for large data sets and big data. Resilio Connect has an advantage when working over the local area network (LAN) since it can fall back to TCP/IP, which delivers high performance while being less aggressive to local traffic.

Transfer a few files to external partners
(Aspera Wins)

When you need to send a number of files or do file sharing with external partners, have a nice UI, ability to leverage WAN optimized speed inside a browser and have available bandwidth, Aspera is the superior solution.

File Transfer to several teams
(Resilio Connect Wins)

Resilio Connect outperforms Aspera when you need to transfer files to or between end users on several teams. Connect combines peer-to-peer and WAN optimized protocols and splits files into blocks and sends them concurrently and independently to several destinations. This combines networks between all machines into a single meshed network, which is significantly faster. Increasing the transfer speed leads to faster delivery of the files.

Synchronize files across locations
(Resilio Connect Wins)

Aspera and its FASP protocol are focused on fast file transfer between two locations. But when you need to keep several geographically distributed servers in sync, Resilio Connect is the winner and provides an excellent Aspera alternative. Connect can easily monitor tens of millions of files for changes and deliver changed files extremely fast to multiple locations.

Distribute files to several locations
(Resilio Connect Wins)

Aspera is a strong point to point large data transfer solution. On the other hand, Connect is based on peer-to-peer multidimensional data transfer technology, which provides concurrent and independent data transfer to several destinations. It works very well with cloud, on-premise geographically distributed servers or any combination. Multidimensional block-level data transfer outperforms synchronous point to point file transfer in all multi-destination transfer scenarios.

File transfer to/from cloud/private object storage
(Resilio Connect Wins)

There are many data transfer needs when you work with the cloud. Aspera and Resilio Connect have similar results with the simple use case of uploading or downloading data quickly from cloud object storage.

However, Resilio Connect outperforms Aspera in the following, more complex use cases:

• Upload data to the cloud and deliver to another location
• Create a master copy of the project and distribute it between teams
• Distribute assets from the cloud to geographically distributed teams
• Connect any local server or NAS to the cloud

Learn more about Resilio Connect and how it outperforms Aspera in most use cases. Or, schedule a demo or get a free trial to find out.