Egnyte User Guide

Egnyte is a cloud file sharing tool that allows users to store and share files and collaborate on documents. Some components are similar to popular tools like Dropbox or Box, and others are unique to Egnyte. Most clients who choose Egnyte over other cloud file sharing services do so because it is a "hybrid cloud" solution, meaning that data can be synced between Egnyte's cloud servers and a local server in your office. This allows you to keep a local copy of your data in case the cloud servers are wiped out or inaccessible, and allows for faster access to very large files for users on the office network. Visit the Egnyte support site for more information about Egnyte.

This guide covers three general topics:

1. Accessing Egnyte Data
2. Sharing in Egnyte
3. Private Folder

Accessing Egnyte Data

There are four ways to access data in Egnyte:

1. Egnyte WebEdit
2. Egnyte Drive
3. Egnyte Desktop Sync
4. Egnyte Local Cloud

While some power users might use all of these methods, it is usually best to choose one or two to keep things simple. See the Summary of Access Methods for a side-by-side comparison of all four options.

Egnyte WebEdit

The easiest way to access Egnyte data is via the web interface. Just go to yourdomain.egnyte.com and sign in. You can use this interface to download files and upload them back, but it’s much easier to use WebEdit, which lets you edit files directly from the web interface and save them back with no downloading or uploading.

To use WebEdit, just select the file you want to edit and choose Edit from the context menu on the right. If you have never used WebEdit on this computer, you’ll be prompted to download and install it. After that, clicking Edit will open the file in the appropriate application on your computer (e.g. a Word document will open in Word) and when you save the file, it will save back to the cloud. 

If you want to upload files to Egnyte using the web interface, just navigate to the destination folder on the web, then drag and drop the file(s) or folder(s) from your file browser (Windows Explorer or Mac Finder) into the web browser. Or click the Upload button on the web interface and click Browse for Files to navigate to the file(s)/folder(s) on your computer.

Advantages of WebEdit:
•    Accessible from anywhere without VPN
•    Always open the latest version of a file
•    Locks files while editing to prevent two users from editing the same file
•    See who has the file open, who saved it last, and access old versions of the file
•    Folder/file browsing is fast and responsive
•    Searching isn’t super-fast, but it’s reliable
•    Share files directly from the web interface
•    Edit shared files directly from the sharing link
•    Create shortcuts to files and folders using web browser bookmarks

Disadvantages of WebEdit:
•    No offline access
•    Very large files may take a long time to open and save, depending on the speed of your internet connection

Egnyte Drive

If you prefer using your computer’s file browser, Egnyte Drive is a solid option. It will mount your Egnyte files as a network drive regardless of your location (you don’t have to be on your office network). Just navigate using Windows Explorer or Mac Finder, and you can open files directly from the cloud and save them straight back. 

To use Egnyte Drive, log into the web interface, click Apps & Add-Ons, click Egnyte Apps, hover over Egnyte Drive, click Download, open the downloaded file, and follow instructions to install the app. After opening the app, follow prompts to set it up by logging in with your Egnyte username and password. You should now see a new location in your file browser (Windows Explorer or Mac Finder) that you can use to navigate your Egnyte folders and files.

Advantages of Egnyte Drive:
•    Accessible from anywhere without VPN
•    Always open the latest version of a file
•    Locks files while editing to prevent two users from editing the same file 

Disadvantages of Egnyte Drive:
•    No offline access
•    Very large files may take a long time to open and save, depending on the speed of your internet connection
•    You cannot see who has the file open, who saved it last, or access old versions of the file
•    Browsing can be slow and search is unreliable
•    Sharing controls will redirect you to the web interface
•    Can’t be used to edit files from sharing links
•    You cannot reliably create shortcuts to files within Egnyte Drive

Egnyte Desktop Sync

Egnyte’s Desktop Sync application is familiar to anyone who has used a service like Dropbox; it simply syncs selected folders from the Egnyte cloud to a folder on your computer. 

To use Egnyte Desktop Sync, log into the web interface, click Apps & Add-Ons, click Egnyte Apps, hover over Egnyte Desktop Sync, click Download, open the downloaded file, and follow instructions to install the app. After opening the app, follow prompts to set it up by logging in with your Egnyte username and password. The app will create a new folder in your home folder called Egnyte and sync your data there. By default, Egnyte Desktop Sync will only sync your Private folders. To choose Shared folders to sync, click the Egnyte Desktop Sync icon in your System Tray (Windows) or top menu bar (Mac) and select Configure Folders. 

Advantages of Egnyte Desktop Sync:
•    Accessible from anywhere without VPN
•    Offline access to synced files
•    Large files will open quickly
•    Searching and browsing your synced files is as fast and easy as finding other files on your computer
•    You can create shortcuts to files within Egnyte Desktop Sync folders
•    Can be used as a backup for local files (see Private Folder below)

Disadvantages of Desktop Sync:
•    Syncing too many folders can fill up your drive
•    Because file changes take time to sync, you may end up opening an out-of-date version of a file
•    Doesn’t read lock status, which may result in two people editing a file at the same time
•    Sharing controls will redirect you to the web interface
•    Can’t be used to edit files from sharing links

Egnyte Local Cloud

One of the most distinctive features of Egnyte is the ability to synchronize all shared files to a local file server to provide redundancy and faster access from the office network. This local file server is called the Egnyte Local Cloud. This is a useful tool, but should only be used when you need fast access to very large files that don’t open fast enough via the other methods listed above.

To use the Egnyte Local Cloud, contact Kinetix for assistance in setting up a shortcut in your file browser (Windows Explorer or Mac Finder). After this is set up, you will see a location in your file browser that you can use to navigate your Egnyte folders and files; this will function almost identically to Egnyte Drive, except that you’ll be accessing files over your office network from an on-premise server that has a local copy of all data, rather than accessing files over the internet from the cloud. If you use both Egnyte Drive and Egnyte Local Cloud, try to familiarize yourself with the different appearance of the file browser locations to avoid confusing the two.

The advantages of Egnyte Local Cloud are:
•    Large files will open much faster than they will with WebEdit or Egnyte Drive (though slower than Desktop Sync) because you will be accessing them over your office network and not the internet
•    Browsing is faster than in Egnyte Drive
•    You do not need to be connected to the internet to access the Egnyte Local Cloud (though you do need to be connected to your office network)
•    You can create shortcuts to files within Egnyte Desktop Sync folders

The disadvantages are:
•    No access from outside your office network
•    Because file changes take time to sync between the cloud and the local server, you may end up opening an out-of-date version of a file
•    Doesn’t read lock status, which may result in two people editing a file at the same time
•    Search can be unreliable
•    If you need to share a file, you need to switch to the web interface and navigate to it manually
•    Can’t be used to edit files from sharing links

Summary of Access Methods

Sharing in Egnyte

Egnyte offers powerful tools for sharing files and folders with others without having to send email attachments back and forth. Email attachments create a lot of problems: there's a pretty small file size limit, they take up space in your mailbox and your recipients' mailboxes, they can be easily forwarded to others without your approval, and they result in many different versions of a file floating around on different computers. Sharing links to files through Egnyte can solve all of those problems.

To share a file or folder with people inside or outside your organization:

1. Navigate to the file or folder using the web interface, select the file or folder, select Share from the context menu on the right (for folders, hover over Share and select Share Folder Link), and choose your options:
   1. To allow anyone with the link (inside or outside your organization) to download the file only, go directly to step 2
   2. To set a password for accessing the file, click Change link options, change Anyone to Anyone with a password and choose a password
   3. To limit access to your organization and allow others to edit directly from the link, click Change link options and change Anyone to <your organization> users
   4. Click Link expires to disable the link after a certain date or number of clicks
   5. Click Notify me when link is clicked to keep tabs on who is accessing the file
   6. Click Always show the most recent version if you want future changes to the file to be accessible via this link
2. Click Get Link to copy the link and paste in an email or other communication tool, or Email Link to send the collaborator the link via email directly from Egnyte

To edit a file that a coworker has shared with you:

1. Click the sharing link
2. In the web page that opens, click Open in Folder 
3. In the new tab that opens, click Edit to open the file via WebEdit

To request files from people outside your organization:

1. In the web interface, choose or a create a folder where you want the files saved
2. Select the folder, hover over Share in the context menu on the right, select Request Files from Others, and choose your options:
   1. Check Link expires to disable the link after a certain date
   2. Check Create separate folder for files received from each person if you want to keep files from different individuals separate
3. Click Get Link or Email Link
4. Link recipients will be able to upload to the folder, but will NOT be able to see the contents of the folder

Private Folder

Egnyte separates your data at the highest level into Shared and Private folders. Since the purpose of Egnyte is file sharing, you’ll mostly use Shared folders, but your Private folder is useful to store any files that don’t need to be shared, or work-in-progress files that aren’t yet ready to be shared.

By default, Egnyte Desktop Sync will sync only your Private folder to your computer, so you can use Desktop Sync as a cloud backup solution for your local files. Instead of keeping important files on your Desktop or Documents folders where they’re vulnerable to loss if your computer crashes, keep all local files in your synced Private folder where they will be constantly replicated to the cloud.