Terms are listed A–Z. Each one links to the guide that explains it in context.
File transfer glossary
This glossary explains, in plain English, the technical terms you meet when sending files directly between devices — from peer-to-peer and WebRTC to STUN, TURN and NAT — and how each one shows up when you use StrongFolder.
- Data channel
- The part of a WebRTC connection that carries arbitrary data — in StrongFolder, the pieces of your files.
- DTLS
- Datagram Transport Layer Security: the encryption WebRTC applies to every data channel, so data is encrypted in transit.
- End-to-end encryption
- Encryption where only the communicating ends can read the data. Cloud services that call themselves end-to-end encrypted still store your encrypted file; a P2P transfer does not store it at all.
- File System Access API
- A browser feature that lets a web page write a whole folder tree to a place you choose. StrongFolder uses it to save received folders with their structure in Chrome, Edge and Opera on a computer.
- ICE
- Interactive Connectivity Establishment: the procedure WebRTC uses to try possible network paths between two devices and pick one that works.
- NAT
- Network Address Translation: how home and office routers share one public IP address among many devices. NAT is the main reason direct connections sometimes need STUN or TURN.
- P2P
- Peer-to-peer: two devices exchange data directly instead of going through a central server that stores it. In StrongFolder the peers are the sender's and the recipient's browsers. See P2P file transfer.
- Signaling
- The short exchange through a server that lets two browsers find each other and agree how to connect before a WebRTC connection opens. No file data passes through signaling.
- STUN
- Session Traversal Utilities for NAT: a server a browser asks 'what is my public address?', so it can be reached for a direct connection.
- Transfer link
- The address you send to the recipient. With StrongFolder it works while you are sharing; Stop Sharing or closing the tab ends it.
- TURN
- Traversal Using Relays around NAT: a relay server used when a direct connection is impossible. It forwards the encrypted stream between the browsers; StrongFolder's relay does not store it.
- Upload speed
- How fast your connection sends data. In a direct transfer it is usually the limit: at 50 Mbit/s, 10 GB takes about 27 minutes.
- WebRTC
- Web Real-Time Communication: a technology built into modern browsers for direct audio, video and data connections. StrongFolder sends files over WebRTC data channels.
- ZIP
- An archive format that packs many files into one. Needed for email; unnecessary when you send a folder as a folder.
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