Services

FileSender

Share large files using a solution designed for and by the education and research community

News! Since mid-April 2024, users of the ‘FileSender’ service have benefited from a secure access to internal/Intranet resources and services outside of the RESTENA network.
→ Read more about the 'eduVPN' service

Challenges

Messaging systems block the sending of large attachments and use a preset limit of generally between 10 and 25 MB. This limit is set at 30 MB for individuals with an e-mail account with the Restena Foundation. While this limit is large enough under most circumstances, sending videos, photographs, or presentation materials that include several high-quality illustrations, to name but a few cases, can cause problems.

In these cases, using a temporary file hosting service becomes a necessity. With this, data transits within a set time period through a storage space where the sender uploads their large file(s) which will be recovered later by the recipient via a download link. However, when the files to be transferred contain sensitive or confidential data, storage security becomes an important consideration. A local solution is preferable, rather than external cloud solutions where the exact storage location or status of the data are not known.

Online platform

The Restena Foundation offers eligible institutions an online platform for sending large files that has been developed by the research and education community for the research and education community.

Using this platform, the user uploads their file directly to a Restena Foundation server and can send, via "zero-knowledge encryption" or not, their large files securely to anyone once they have an e-mail address. A file may be sent to one or more people in one message and they will then receive an e-mail containing a personalised link giving them access to the file. Every "Download Invitation" is valid for a period of 10 days, beyond which the file will be automatically deleted from the server.

Secure transmission of information

FileSender is not just for the exclusive use by members of the research and education community, it goes further than this. An authenticated user may 'invite' a person who does not have access to the RESTENA service to upload their file(s) to the FileSender. A single-use voucher for the 'invited' person, automatically generated by the FileSender on behalf of the authenticated user, will be sent to them beforehand.

With the FileSender, institutions not only offer their employees the option of using a secure file-sending service but also guarantee the secure transmission of information to their partners, whether they are in the Luxembourg research and education sectors or not.

Benefits

Quick upload and without size restriction (subject to available storage space)

Secure sending of documents that might contain sensitive data

Sending and invitation history

No upload size limit

A specially developed platform for the needs of the research community

Secure, protected storage service hosted within Luxembourg and directly connected to the national network infrastructure interconnecting Luxembourg institutions in the research and education

How to benefit?

I am a teacher or employee at a research or educational institution and I do not have a RESTENA user account

Make sure that your institution have subscribed to the FileSender service. To do this, check if your institution is listed in the FileSender tool homepage.
Please visit https://fs.restena.lu, select your institution in the list and connect with your eduID credentials that were provided to you by your institution’s IT department
Once you are connected, provide the e-mail address(es) of the recipient(s), select the download expiry date, upload your file, add any message if you would like, then send the download link.

NB: If your institution does not offer FileSender but is eligible for the services offered by the Restena Foundation, your institution should let us know that it is interested in advance.

I have received a 'RESTENA FileSender' voucher

Click on the Voucher link provided in the e-mail.
Provide the e-mail address(es) of the recipient(s), select the download expiry date, upload your file, add any message if you would like, then send the download link.

I am a teacher or employee at a research or educational institution and I have a RESTENA user account

Make sure that you are eligible for the FileSender service. To do this, check the services activated in your user account.
Please visit https://fs.restena.lu, select ‘Restena users’ in the list and connect with the login credentials to RESTENA services that were provided to you when you opened your RESTENA user account.
Once you are connected, provide the e-mail address(es) of the recipient(s), select the download expiry date, upload your file, add any message if you would like, then send the download link.

NB: If the FileSender service is not part of your activated services, please contact the Restena Foundation to indicate that you are interested.

More details on the service

Who can benefit?

Primary, Secondary and Post-Secondary Schools, Higher-Education Establishments, Research Institutes, Cultural Institutions, Teachers, Professors, Researchers, Administrative staff

Some useful information

Resulting from a National Research and Education Network (NREN) consortium, FileSender is managed in Luxembourg by the Restena Foundation.
The FileSender service does not have any maximum size limits for files to be sent, subject to using a recent browser and the availability of storage space on the FileSender server.
The FileSender integrates a file download speed indicator showing the encryption time at rest and the encryption time in transit.
It is possible, at any time, to consult the list of its own files on the server, to resend an invitation, to redirect an invitation to another recipient, or to delete a file with immediate effect.

Assistance and support

[email protected]