High Availability FTP Client Transfers with SFTPPlus MFT ​

Ensuring uninterrupted file transfers across your infrastructure is crucial, especially when dealing with mission-critical or time-sensitive data flows.

Traditional FTP/SFTP client setups can become a single point of failure. If your file transfer client crashes or goes offline, automated transfers stop, leading to delays, missed SLAs, or data loss.

SFTPPlus MFT, with support for clustered, high availability FTP client transfers, can overcome this by deploying a clustered setup designed for failover-ready client transfers.

How It Works ​

SFTPPlus MFT supports installation on multiple virtual machines (VMs) or containers (Docker, Podman, Kubernetes, etc), with the configuration automatically distributed between the members of the cluster.

Once deployed:

1. 🧠 One instance becomes the Primary Node, responsible for all file transfers.
2. 💤 Other instances remain on standby, continuously monitoring the files from the source server.
3. 🔁 If the primary fails or delays, a standby instance takes over automatically to perform the transfer.

This provides a seamless high availability mechanism for FTP, SFTP, and other protocols.

Centralized Configuration Distribution

One of the highlights of SFTPPlus clustering is that the transfer configuration only needs to be defined on the primary instance.

This includes:

• Source/destination server details
• File filters
• Transfer schedules
• Routing rules

From there, the configuration is automatically synchronized to all standby nodes in the cluster, eliminating the need for manual duplication or config management tooling.

Check the cluster documentation pages for a detailed description of all the available failover options.

Server-to-Server Transfers Without Local Storage ​

SFTPPlus supports streamed server-to-server transfers, where the file is downloaded from a remote server and immediately uploaded to another. This is ideal for:

• Reducing disk I/O
• Improving speed and memory efficiency
• Enhancing security (no residual local copies)

Whether you're syncing logs, distributing datasets, or pushing compliance reports, this feature keeps your infrastructure lean and secure.

The server-to-server transfers are fully supported in a high availability cluster environment.

Full Audit Logging ​

Compliance and transparency are critical, especially in regulated industries. SFTPPlus records every transfer action in detailed logs:

• Transfer start/stop timestamps
• Node responsible for the transfer
• Errors or retries
• Authentication events

This makes auditing and monitoring a breeze and helps meet regulatory requirements such as HIPAA, GDPR, or SOX.

Use Case Snapshot ​

Imagine that you have a payroll system that generated salary payments at the end of each month. Your payroll system is deployed in your primary environment as well as your disaster recovery environment.

The payment orders are sent to the bank using SFTP. SFTPPlus MFT will automatically transfer the payment order as soon as they are generated by your payroll system. If the VM from the primary environment crashes or lags, the disaster recovery node automatically jumps in to complete the task. No human intervention needed, and salary payments are made without delays.

Wrapping Up ​

With SFTPPlus MFT's clustered high availability client model, you get:

• Seamless failover for outbound and server-to-server transfers
• Streamlined configuration management
• Lightweight, non-persistent data routing
• Comprehensive logging for audit and compliance

👉 Want help with configuration or setting up a clustered environment? Contact our dedicated SFTPPlus support team.