Wuala

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Wuala

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Basic data

developer LaCie AG, Zurich

Seagate Technology subsidiary

Publishing year August 14, 2008
Current  version Nadelhorn ( Windows , OS X and Linux )
September 30, 2014

2.8.6 ( Android )
March 23, 2015

3.3.4 ( iOS )
March 13, 2015

operating system Windows , Mac OS X , Linux , Android , iOS
programming language Java
category Online hard drive
License Freeware / closed source
German speaking Yes
www.wuala.com
old logo

Wuala (pronounced like the French word Voilà ) was a file hosting - service from Switzerland and was based on a technique developed by Dominik Grolimund and Luzius Meisser at the ETH Zurich was developed. With applications for the Windows , Mac OS X , Linux and smartphone platforms , users could save or retrieve files on the memory.

On November 15, 2015, the Wuala service was terminated and all data stored in the cloud was deleted.

Initially, Wuala was a product of the Swiss software manufacturer Caleido AG, which merged with the American-French computer peripherals manufacturer LaCie in 2009 . For its part, LaCie has been more than 90% owned by the American hard drive manufacturer Seagate Technology since 2012 .

In April 2010, Wuala started offering five additional languages ​​(French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch). Wuala was now available in eleven different languages.

The data was stored centrally on LaCie AG's European servers. Until October 2011, the service had distributed the data as file fragments decentrally on the participants' computers ( peer-to-peer approach).

On August 17, 2015, it was announced that Wuala would be ceasing to operate on November 15, 2015. Users were advised to switch to Tresorit .

functionality

Until the beginning of October 2011, Wuala was based on a decentralized network and, if the user agreed, used the idle resources of the individual computers in the Wuala network as additional storage space . If one were to a file, for example, by dragging and dropping put on his Wuala hard drive, so it was still on your own computer is encrypted (using a 256-bit AES - algorithm ). The file was then divided into several parts (fragments) and distributed over the network until the permanent availability and integrity of the file was guaranteed. The October 2011 update retained the division, but the fragments were only saved in the LaCie AG network - no longer in the network of the participants.

On June 11, 2014, Wuala switched its services to a completely paid service. For example, 5 GB cost € 9 per year or € 0.99 per month as of June 2014.

The RSA algorithm with a key length of 2048 bits was used to authenticate users in the network .

From the Wuala version of August 7, 2008 (Build 462 (Windows) or Build 72 (Windows version with new installer)) and the corresponding Linux and Mac OS X version counterparts of the same date, it was available to all users Free to use the public Welt / World area of ​​Wuala even without your own Wuala account (search, read). The possibility of having completely anonymous access to Wuala - including the possibility of uploading files to Wuala - was no longer realized.

From August 14, 2008, Wuala was publicly available to everyone as an “open beta” Java applet via the Wuala website directly from a web browser.

From December 16, 2008, all files marked as public, as well as those private folders that were released with a password , were accessible to anyone with the appropriate URLs via the website . With this innovation, the website had moved from www.wua.la to www.wuala.com .

In December 2008, one was REST - API introduced for read access, but was removed again.

As of the version of January 9, 2009, Wuala could be configured manually to a specific IP address to be specified. This was useful, for example, with multiple IP addresses per system.

After the update of August 19, 2010 it was possible to synchronize data across multiple computers and operating systems .

On October 3, 2011, Wuala stopped the swap function and increased the basic memory to 2 GB. The exchanged memory was still available to users free of charge until October 2, 2012.

The beta phase, which has been ongoing since the start, was ended with the implementation of BLOB storage, a system update and the start of Wuala Business on September 10, 2012.

From July 9, 2014, there was no longer any free storage for new users, but users who were already registered could still use their existing ones. At the end of October 2014, the Wuala team announced that they would delete all files from free accounts by December 31, 2014. Users were asked to either back up their files from the cloud or to switch to a paid account.

safety

Since the source code of the software had not been published ( closed source ), neither the specified functionality, nor the security or freedom from errors could be checked in an independent IT security audit.

The publication, on the basis of which Wuala was originally developed, can be downloaded from ETH Zurich and explains technical details of the cryptographic idea.

According to the FAQ, the servers were in data centers in Switzerland, Germany and France. For example, www.wuala.com , api.wuala.com , bugs.wuala.com were operated by "Hetzner Online AG" (Germany) and content.wuala.com by "OVH SAS" (France) - although the owner was the owner "Seagate" had to submit to American law.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release notes for Windows, OS X and Linux ( memento from January 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) at wuala.com, accessed on January 8, 2015 (partly in English ).
  2. ↑ Download page for Android at play.google.com , accessed on March 23, 2015 (partly in English).
  3. ↑ Preview page for iOS at itunes.apple.com , accessed on March 21, 2015 (partly in English).
  4. ↑ About Wuala - History details
  5. ↑ LaCie and Wuala Merge to Create a Cloud of Storage Devices ( Memento April 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ A measurement study of the Wuala on-line storage service
  7. ↑ heise online: Cloud storage: LaCie discontinues storage service Wuala. In: heise online. Retrieved March 15, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from June 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from June 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ Message from December 16, 2008 ( memento from January 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) in the blog of wuala.com ( English ), accessed on June 26, 2013.
  11. ↑ Cloud hosting Wuala: access files via API and web links ( Memento from April 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Article on netzwertig.com from December 16, 2008
  12. ↑ Wuala API ( memento of April 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) at wuala.com, accessed on April 25, 2014
  13. ↑ Press release of September 10, 2012 at lacie.com, accessed April 24, 2013.
  14. ↑ Press release of July 9, 2014 ( memento of June 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) at wuala.com, accessed on July 19, 2014.
  15. ^ Termination of free storage and storage promotion. Wuala team, archived from the original on October 31, 2014 ; accessed on October 29, 2014 (English).
  16. ↑ Publication of the manufacturer on the encrypted data structure ( Memento from February 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 195 kB), accessed on Oct. 27, 2013.
  17. ↑ Answer to the question "Where is the server location?" ( Memento from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) at wuala.com, accessed on October 27, 2013.