Searching for a Data Transfer Tool for Mac (to meet some technical/business limitations)

[somaya....@sl.nsw.gov.au]

Hi Digital Curation list

I want to put this question out to the community as I've been searching on and off - for a couple of years - and I've not come across a tool that is suitable and meets a whole lot of ' in the field' technical and other limitations...

I might've asked some of you this question previously (apologies for the repeats).

I'm searching for a GUI-based data transfer tool that can be used to transfer born-digital original files 'in the field' from donors/clients using Mac computers.

The tool needs to be able to:

1. Not require any installation of any software on the donor's computer

2. Run off a USB flash drive (as no software can be installed on a donor's Mac)

3. Doesn't rely on Java to run (as many Mac users are using newer Macs and Java isn't installed by default - and we can't install software on a donor's computer) - this also means running the DROID GUI tool on a donor's computer is an issue, but that's another story...

4. Is GUI based (as people needing to do the collection don't have command-line skills)

5. Retains all original technical metadata of the file as part of the transfer process (all datetime information and pref file permissions & ownership - though of course this is all dependent on which disk file systems you're transferring to etc.)

6. Retains the file system datetime information for the top-level folders and files during the transfer process

7. Generates and produces reports for some technical metadata (checksums - pref SHA-1 hashes, filesystem datetime information for each file - pref LastModifiedDate and CreatedDate plus original file names & file paths)

8. Produces the technical metadata report file by file, rather than as a batch (unlike disk imaging)

9. Produces a report that can be exported (pref as a CSV - where things like commas, diacritics etc. in file names are handled and don't mangle the report)

10. That the tool is simple and doesn't require someone with more than moderate computer skills to be able to use it.

11. Doesn't require a disk image approach (as we're needing to collect a selection of donor's/client's files only).

I've looked at AV Preserve's Fixity tool (requires Java, as does Bagger) and arRsync (doesn't produce reports) etc.

What I'm looking for is really something similar to the PC tool - TeraCopy 3.0 Beta - though I'd be hoping for something a little simpler.

A former colleague ran a range of tests on different tools a couple of years ago, but none met our requirements then. Perhaps there's something out there, that I've just not managed to locate yet that some of you are aware of. 

Appreciate any assistance or suggestions

Many thanks

Somaya

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[Bertram Lyons]

Hi Somaya --

Is it possible to load Java (or a portable JRE) on the USB and run one of the existing GUI java-based programs (Exactly, Bagger, etc.) from the USB? If this hurdle could be overcome, then the tool, Exactly (https://www.avpreserve.com/tools/exactly/), would support the remainder of your requirements.

I'm happy to do some testing to see if we can support Exactly's use in such a scenario.

Best --

Bert

______________________________________
 
Bertram Lyons, CA
AVPreserve
634 W. Main St., Ste 202
Madison, Wisconsin 53703
 
office: 202-430-4457

http://www.avpreserve.com
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[somaya....@sl.nsw.gov.au]

Hi Bert -

It might be possible - I need to actually trial it and test across a number of different environments. From memory - and please correct me if I'm wrong - either Exactly or the Java version it requires doesn't support older Mac OS' e.g. 10.6.8

I do need to transfer from earlier Mac OS X environments (as well as potentially OS9, but I'll handle that when I get to it) as well as back to Windows 95. Some donors still have files on older systems, which we need to grab.

I'm also keen to ensure that any datetime information is retained at the top-level for all folders as well as files (which from previous tests of Bagger and Exactly - it wasn't retaining the datetime information on top-level folders, it was find for nested folders though...). I should run another test and take some screen captures so I can illustrate the issue.

My only other issue would be whether it's simple to get Java running from the USB and then run Exactly, as the tool does need to be used by non-technical staff 'in the field'.

Happy for any input and further discussion, and yes, it would be great if you're able to do some further testing around Exactly and let me know what the limitation is re diff operating systems/java versions etc.

Many thanks

Somaya