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Alfresco's JLAN / AIFS Goes Open-Source

Alfresco throws the doors wide to their JLAN shared file drive interface, making it open source under a GNU license.

Formerly known as Alfresco Intelligent File System (AIFS), JLAN is an embedded virtual file system which looks just like a shared drive to the end user, and is achieved without any intervening desktop client. It is a java-based implementation of Window’s CIFS (Common Internet File System), and supports NFS and FTP.

Oh yeah? Is that all? Well, no:

• JLAN is the only pure Java client and server implementation for CIFS, NFS, and FTP
• High Performance – Similar to the native file system
• Enterprise Authentication – NTLM, NTLMSSP, SPNEGO, Kerberos/AD
• Real-Time Access – No copy to local disk and conflict resolution issues
• Offline Access - Integration to Microsoft® Briefcase

The move will be welcomed by developers for the Alfresco platform like SpikeSource, who will now be able to tinker with the module’s technology to their hearts’ content.

Last Spring Alfresco offered JLAN, which was previously incorporated within the Alfresco ECM Server, as a standalone embeddable option for OEMs. Now developing partners will be able to customize JLAN features for their products.

Example applications given by the company for JLAN include shared drive interfaces to content management systems, databases, or content enabling apps such as customer relationship management.

“Alfresco JLAN has allowed us to expand our OEM momentum with a simple interface and low cost open source solution, which can easily be embedded into various systems,” according to John Newton of Alfresco. “Today, more than 50 customers, including some of the largest software companies in the world, have already incorporated Alfresco JLAN into their products.”

Alfresco is a free, open source, open standards Enterprise CMS which runs on Microsoft or Unix/Linux. The software has been downloaded over 700,000 times, has 25,000 live sites, and 300 corporate customers, mostly from the Global 2000.