I am actively looking for an ftp server that will be controlled through ExpressionEngine.

The must haves are:
- user management
- individual drop folders
- access restrictions
- account history
- upload and download triggers
- web file management

They are using sftpd at the moment.
Any thought or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
LinesDrawn

I changed the title to better reflect where this thread headed.

The lack of replies could be because of the wording in what you are asking.

Are you looking for an FTP application? Are you seeking some functionality in EE to FTP?
I’m sort of lost on what you are asking LinesDrawn.

You will need a custom built solution for sure.  I would suggest checking into the Amazon S3 service which was pretty much built for this type of purpose.  The S3 resources area even has PHP libraries which can be used as a starting point.  You can store all your files cheap and you don’t have to mess with the file system on your own server.

Thank you jammo for moving the post, I agree that my description was lacking.

John Fuller seems to be clairvoyant, Amazon simple storage services looks like the solution.
Thank You Mr Fuller:)

If any one would like a progress report let me know, I will be working on a module for EE

Cheers,

I’d love a progress report.  Put up a post when you get something useable.  Or, you know, if you need help getting something useable, hehe.

You’re creating an EE add-on that integrates Amazon’s S3 service? That does sound interesting. How’s that going?

Hello Thorvald and Leslie Camacho,

Progress is going quite well considering the amount of time I had to work on it, I have been reassigned to D E L T E K V I S I O N customization which is a sad program.

Below is what I have found so far in no real order:
Luckily A3 uses easily addressable buckets, get the S3 explorer.
I have it set up so every weblog/section in EE gets assigned a unique bucket. In EE this is like creating a new upload destination. The real nice thing is this bucket is now defined so the only thing the user needs to do is upload, no destination directory required. I have found that users always default to the first one anyway.

A3 has no file/folder structure so you will have to keep track of what you create, I am using an xml file.

Look for a more detailed progress report to follow.

Cheers,

This sounds very interesting indeed! I would be very interested in getting a progress report too

A3 Knowledge
Head on over and read IBM’s article Offload your multimedia content and bandwidth to Amazon using PHP
Do notice the warning of requiring unique bucket names, in my haste I tested with what I thought was a unique name and oh the hours I wasted.

I have it working but no clean EE add on yet, I am working on the code every-chance I get but I did a real hack job in the learning phase that then had to go prime time because they needed it now.

For you podcasters, large file distributors or any one else requiring scalability like the big boys S3 is a must look at service.
The s3.classes are empowering and dare I say it EE like.

Thorvald and stinhambo I can release what I have so far if you want please PM me.
I really would go through the IBM how to first, I wish I had this when I started.

Worth your time:
Rjonna’s excellent firefox plugin for S3

Cheers,
LinesDrawn

I’m researching, and shortly will be writing specs for a similar if not identical plugin.

For us there are two key goals, firstly to make the upload process a little more user friendly, that started life a separate project. But when I came across Amazon S3, it seemed to make perfect sense to marry the two.

Currently investigating the best way to implement this, as one of the key requirements for us will be having a progress bar for the uploads etc.

Interested to know if you have got any further, and any problems you have faced.

Hello neekster,

Sorry it took me so long in getting back to you.

I have had very little interest in EES3, in fact you are the only one who has inquired about it.
For what it is worth, it took less than a dozen methods to get it working. Integrating it with EE the way the client wanted was a pain that I thought would never end. I never got around to doing a clean integration with EE though.

You want your user to have confirmation of progress:) I added a java one that worked like a charm.

Perhaps I should resurrect EES3?

Cheers,

Thanks LinesDrawn,

I’m a little behind in putting together specifications for this one, although I’m still very committed in getting something out the door in the new year. I was hoping for a little more interest here that would have inspired me to move on it a little quicker.

I remain convinced though that it would simply be an amazing addition to EE. Perhaps the lack of interest here is due to a not so widespread knowledge of S3 and it’s capabilities?

I hope you continue with your work neekster, I think it would be amazing to have this scalability in an EE based media site for example. It would solve a big hurdle for me and enable me to do what I want so I for one applaud you on your work.

Hello neekster and patueb,

If you like I could put up an EES3 retrospectiva so we could combine efforts on getting this out to the community.

Let me know.

Cheers,

Sounds good to me, I will start getting my head into this project again over the next few days. I’m really keen to get something happening on this one

I second patueb - I already use S3, and would love to see EE integration.

Les

EES3 now has project management and bug tracking up at retro.linesdrawn.com

Should others want to chime in please feel free to request a login.

Cheers,

This is just to voice my interest in having an EE S3 plugin. I’m starting a project in the new year for which S3 would be perfect, and I’d love to give the client some way to use S3 through the EE CP. Thanks to all for your work so far…

I am very interested to see how this upcoming plugin could work with S3.

Keep up the good work!