Most developers stick with the default open source uploader in web forms. They believe trying a different third-party solution brings complications with little upside for them. This unwillingness to adapt and grow ends up causing issues due to the following circumstances:
Increasing content consumption – The days of large corporations being the primary curators of content are long gone. Technological advances make it possible for a single person working from home to make tons of information available to eager consumers. People expect to get their content at any moment of the day or night. Content creators know this and expect their upload solutions to allow them to deliver without any issues.
The growth of mobile use – There’s always going to be a place for traditional desktops and laptops. But the advancements being made by mobile developers have more people relying on their phone or tablet when accessing the internet or communicating with others. They want to send and receive information without running into errors because of large file sizes.
The rise of the freelance workforce – People no longer need to make a long trek to an office building to work for a successful business. Companies large and small now make remote work common in the workplace. Many people bypass working for someone else entirely and build their own companies from their home offices. Doing this successfully requires access to reliable uploads capable of handling files of any size.
Tackling open source uploader issues
Today’s file upload solutions need to handle all these situations and many more. There’s no room for delays and frustration when we’re operating in such a fast-paced environment.
Small businesses looking to grow can’t afford bad reviews from frustrated customers constantly running into problems uploading important files. A freelance writer might end up missing an entire paycheck if they can’t upload an important white paper in time to meet a deadline.
Large file uploads through an open source uploader become issues primarily because of the inability to automatically adjust memory and file size allotments. It often takes manual intervention and a server restart to see any sort of improvement. That slows down users trying to get content out in a timely manner.
Bad user experiences do more to sink a promising software product than anything else. So why continue to stick with something that clearly isn’t meeting their needs?
Where An Open Source Uploader Fall Short
Let’s get into some specific instances where an open source uploader faisl to meet the needs of many developers.
Lack of Built-In Security
We’ve seen the damage hackers cause when they find openings to exploit. A standard uploader does nothing to prevent hackers from sending malware right into the heart of your application. Many developers try manually blocking bad file extensions, but that doesn’t always stop bad files from getting in.
What are you supposed to tell clients using your solution when everything suddenly shuts down? You may have users with sensitive data compromised due to someone managing to get a virus in through your upload solution. It’s easy for hackers to trick the uploader into thinking it’s uploading a good file.
Attackers might be seeking to drain your server resources and shut down your application entirely. That could leave you offline indefinitely and puts you at risk of losing your customer base as they seek out more reliable options.
Strains on Server Bandwidth
We’ve already discussed the problems an homebuilt upload solution run into when handling larger files. Tinkering with your configuration values might do the trick. But uploads place a lot of stress on your I/O and uses a lot of bandwidth, forcing your server to work much harder.
Imagine having lots of users frequently uploading big files like images or videos. That ends up costing you more paying for more resources to handle everything. You may do all the above and still find yourself frequently hitting your limits.
Eliminate Needless Hassles
Filestack overcomes these problems with highly scalable upload API that speaks your language.
Stop spending your time trying to fix upload issues and devote it instead to making your entire application even better. Learn more about how much you’d benefit from implementing the Filestack API. Try it out for free today with a 14 day, fully featured free trial.
Filestack is a dynamic team dedicated to revolutionizing file uploads and management for web and mobile applications. Our user-friendly API seamlessly integrates with major cloud services, offering developers a reliable and efficient file handling experience.