General questions about Nodescan
I already use Skype/iChat/Messenger etc. Why do I need another Chat/IM/File Sharing application?
- Many social networking sites and file-sending services require connection to an external server beyond the user’s control. Nodescan gives you absolute control over your own data and messaging. For larger organisations, Nodescan servers can run inside the LAN behind the firewall, keeping internal communications completely private.
- As a further level of protection, Nodescan encodes communication streams so confidential information such as file search queries and results, as well as private messages, are not sent over the network in plain text.
- Nodescan also offers higher level security features such as password protection for files and IP address access controls.
- Nodescan offers public and private file uploads. Private files can only be seen by their owner but can be shared with others as needed.
- Nodescan provides a unified, consistent interface to a variety of services. Users can run Nodescan on various types of computers and have a virtually identical experience. Nodescan has been tested on Windows (XP, Vista, 7 and 8), Linux (Red Hat, Fedora, Ubuntu), and Mac OS X (up to version 10.10). It should run on other versions of Unix, such as Solaris as well.
- With Nodescan Client users can chat, send instant messages (with attachments and URL links), upload and download files, and search all while listening to music streamed from the server in the background.
- Nodescan is fast. File transfers of over 50 MB/sec on a Gigabit local network are typical. Nodescan Server can serve multiple audio streams at the same time over a high-speed broadband connection.
- Nodescan supports languages other than English allowing international real-time communication.
Can I use Nodescan Server and Client for cross -platform file sharing (e.g. to copy files from my Windows computer to my Macintosh or Linux PC)?
Absolutely. Nodescan provides an easy way to move files across platforms. Just run Nodescan Server on one of the computers and then upload and download files using Nodescan Client or send them as message attachments. You can also use other WebDav client applications such as CyberDuck and Transmit. Nodescan server is a regular application, so no changes need to be made to the operating system to enable/disable file sharing. Since version 1.0b34 folders can be also be selected. (On Mac OS X it is necessary to hold down the Shift or Control keys while clicking “Choose…” in the File Sharing window). The contents of folders are automtically zipped into a single archive. Enable Zeroconf on the server to allow Nodescan Clients to automatically discover hosts on the local network.
It’s been in beta forever. Will it actually ever be released?
Development has been time consuming due to number of features/services and the extensive testing across platforms. We are releasing updates periodically with a mixture of new features and bug fixes. We believe that Nodescan gets better with each update and we plan to release 1.0 versions soon.
Can someone send a virus or other file to my computer by attaching it to an instant message?
No. The file is stored on the server until you double click the attachment icon. If you have a doubt about the file and do not want to accept it, just close the message window. If you do choose to open it, NodeScan will warn you if it is an executable or a link to a web site.