Background

Architectural Background

Let us look at the architectural background of the solution. The Triofox remote and mobile access solution consists of three primary components:

  • The Storage Layer and the Internal IT infrastructure such as Active Directory and File Server - on the left
  • The Triofox Cluster (Server Farm) - in the middle
  • The Triofox Access Client Agents - on the right

triofox architecture

The web portal belongs to the client tier on the right. Web portal functionality includes

  • administration
  • files and folders management
  • download other client agent software
  • files and folders sharing

Existing Infrastructure

Active Directory

Triofox can connect to existing IT infrastructure, such as current file servers and existing Active Directory.

Data Storage

Triofox Storage can actually be powered by any storage service, including:

  • Local File Server Network Share

    • CIFS/SMB Network Share
    • DFS (Microsoft Distributed File System)

  • Cloud Storage Services aka Triofox Cloud File Server

    • Amazon S3 (or any S3 compatible service)
    • Amazon S3 (GovCloud)
    • Rackspace CloudFiles US
    • Rackspace CloudFiles UK
    • Internap XipCloud
    • OpenStack
    • OpenStack (KeyStone 2.0/3.0)
    • Microsoft Azure Blob
    • Microsoft Azure Blob (Gov)
    • WebDav
    • Wasabi Storage
    • Microsoft SharePoint

When a new Triofox Cluster admin account is created, any of these services can be selected to power the root storage folder. Regardless of which provider you select here, additional services can be mounted below the root of the storage tree, where they will appear as a subfolder in the root folder.

Triofox Server Farm (Cluster)

The Triofox Cluster (one or more Triofox servers) provides the access infrastructure and management services and acts as a liaison between the user-facing access clients and the backend storage services. It consists of a group of web services that include the following:

  • Account Management
  • Login and User Load Balancing
  • Web Portal UI
  • Generic Storage Services (powered by backend provider)
  • Data Persistence
  • Local Storage/Device Relay

These services can be deployed in flexible combinations to meet different needs.

Triofox has an all-in-one installer, so it can be easily self-hosted by you.

Triofox Client Agent Software

The Triofox Clients allow you to use a variety of services. Supported clients include:

  • Desktop Client for Windows
  • Desktop Client for Mac
  • Server Agent for Windows File Servers (background sync for remote file servers)
  • iOS client for iPhone and iPad
  • Android Client
  • Web Client (Internet Explorer, Edge, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera and etc.,)

These clients allow cloud storage to be used natively on the appropriate device via a mapped drive, file share, or other mechanism commonly used to access files. This makes it easy for a user to access all of their files from any device or share them with users on any device.

Each client tries to keep things familiar for the end user. For example, the server client integrates cloud storage with file shares so that shared cloud folders can be easily published as file shares with access controls that can be based on existing Active Directory identities, and the desktop client maintains a mapped drive view of cloud storage which operates like any other drive on the desktop.

Conclusion

Triofox is a remote file server access solution that provides seamless integration with your existing Active Directory while maintaining and securing existing NTFS permissions on file server shares. The solution offloads file access via an alternate HTTPS route, reducing the strain on VPN and remote desktop sessions. Users get a familiar mapped drive on their Windows and macOS systems, as well as easy access from their mobile devices such as iPhone and Android.

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