Table of Contents

What is Rangboom™?
Privacy
Rangboom Discussion Group
Is This a P2P Service?
What Is The Security Model?
How Are My Files Shared?
What Types Of Files Can Be Shared?
Where To Start
How Do I Manage My Groups?
How Do I Share With Multiple Groups?
Client Installer
How Do I Configure The Client?
What Is My Group ID?
Screenshots
Technical Description

What is Rangboom™?

Rangboom™ is a free service that allows users on highspeed Internet connections to access their files from anywhere, without the need for any servers on their PCs, or the need to upload their files to a central server.

Additionally, a user can invite other users - other Rangboom users he/she knows - to join his/her group. Members of a group mutually make their files accessible to each other.

Privacy

For user authentication, Rangboom™ service keeps and tracks some user information. Please review our Privacy Policy for a complete description.

Rangboom Discussion Group

If the FAQ does not answer all your questions, you can find more information or ask questions about any aspects of Rangboom service at the Rangboom forum on Google.

Is This a P2P Service?

Rangboom is not P2P. Rangboom uses Shared Namespace™ technology. The Shared Namespace servers act as switching and multiplexing nodes to connect and cross connect active users in a group and provide HTTP (Web) and WAP (Mobile) gateway functions. User's system can be locked behind a firewall and/or a NAT box without problem. The client makes a single outgoing connection to the server.

What Is The Security Model?

Rangboom™ uses a Shared Key Authentication system - like Kerberos. It uses an Authentication Server to mutually verify the identity of the Rangboom Client to the Server and the Server to the Client. Passwords act as the shared secrets between the Authentication Server and the user, as well as the Authentication Server and the Shared Namespace server.

All transactions - between the client and server as well as browser and the server - are encrypted using SSL3 encryption. All Web access identity verification is done over a Secure HTTP connection and all subsequent data access remains encrypted.

How Are My Files Shared?

The Rangboom client makes your shared directories visible to you and your group members. The server does NOT store any files. All files are accessed through the client. There are no routing issues, because the client establishes the link to the server. The data is requested directly from each member's machine, when it is needed. Rangboom does not cache any of your data.

What Types Of Files Can Be Shared?

Any file type can be shared so long as you have permitted your group to access them. The Rangboom client does not make a distinction between files.

Where To Start

To begin using the Rangboom service, please follow these steps:

1. Please Sign Up for a Rangboom account, if you have not done so already.
2. For Windows 2000,XP,2003 download and run the Rangboom Client Installer for Windows.
3. For GNU/Linux (Ubuntu 6.10) download the Rangboom Client Package for I386 Linux (Debian package) and install it using dpkg.
4. Connect to the service using the Rangboom Client.
5. From anywhere on the Internet, use a browser to Sign In to access your data.

How Do I Manage My Groups?

Once you have created an account for yourself, you will be assigned a default group ID, which is the same as your user ID. After logging in using the browser, you will see your groups under the Group Management tab. You can add new members, or drop existing ones. To add a member to your group, enter in the user's ID in the text box provided, and press the Admit Member button.

How Do I Share With Multiple Groups?

You can start multiple instances of the Client. If you belong to multiple groups, you can start a Rangboom client for each group.

Windows Client Installer

The Rangboom Client Installer for Windows will install the Shared Namespace Agent and configure the registry values for the Authentication and the CPU servers. The Installer sequence looks as follows:

How Do I Configure The Windows Client?

During the installation, the installer will ask you to specify the Root Folder that will be made accessible through Rangboom. You can change this value at any time. Once the client has been started, it will appear in the Windows System Tray with the following icon:

Right clicking on the the icon will display the client menu:

Select "Options" to set the Root Folder option. This option can be different for each session. The dialog box for Options will pop up:

Other options in the above dialog will already be set up for you and should be left unchanged. Press OK to save the options. Next, right-click on the System Tray icon again and select the "Login" option. The following dialog box will appear:

If you make a mistake while typing in your User ID (a.k.a User Name) or Password, the error message will display above the User Name text input area on the Login dialog, as follows:

Once your client starts its icon will remain in the system tray area, where you can access the client controls by right-clicking on its icon.

What Is My Group ID?

When you first create your User ID, the system creates a default group for you that has the same Group ID (i.e. Group Name) as your User ID. Once you have your initial account, you can sign up for more groups.

Screenshots

Here are a few examples of how Rangboom represents shared directories and files.

Example: Bob and Carol Sanders need to share pictures, important documents and spreadsheets on their computers. Bob created a Rangboom group (sanders) and invited Carol to join the group. On their own computers, where they have installed the Rangboom client, each can view the other's shared folders and files the same way as a local file on his or her computer. Here is Bob's view of Carol's shared files. Folders and Files that actually reside on Carol's computer have been highlighted:

Additionally, when Bob or Carol want to access their own or each other's files from any other place (e.g. from an Internet cafe), each can log into the Rangboom service using secure HTTP, and access their data in realtime. The following shows Bob's view as he accesses his files residing on his computer at home. Note other group members who are also connected and accessible. Click on the image to view an enlarged version.

Here Bob accesses files that Carol has shared with group sanders. Click on the image to view an enlarged version.

Technical Description

A technical description of the Shared Name Space technology can be found in this paper (PDF format).