The Odette File Transfer Protocol (OFTP) is a protocol created in 1986, used for
Electronic Data Interchange
Electronic data interchange (EDI) is the concept of businesses electronically communicating information that was traditionally communicated on paper, such as purchase orders, advance ship notices, and invoices. Technical standards for EDI exist to ...
(EDI) between two communications business partners. Its name comes from the Odette Organisation (the Organization for data exchange by teletransmission in Europe).
The ODETTE File Transfer Protocol (ODETTE-FTP) was defined in 1986 by working group four of the Organisation for Data Exchange by Tele-Transmission in Europe (ODETTE) to address the electronic data interchange (EDI) requirements of the European automotive industry. It was designed in the spirit of the Open System Interconnection (
OSI) model utilising the Network Service provided by the
CCITT X.25 recommendation.
OFTP 2 was written in 2007 b
Data Interchange as a specification for the secure transfer of business documents over the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
,
ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. ...
and X.25 networks. A description of OFTP 1.3 can be found in RFC 2204, whilst OFTP 2 is defined in RFC 5024.
OFTP 2 can work
point-to-point or indirectly via a VAN (Value Added Network). A single OFTP 2 entity can make and receive calls, exchanging
files in both directions. This means that OFTP 2 can work in a push or pull mode, as opposed to
AS2, which can only work in a push mode.
AS2 RFC Documentation
/ref>
OFTP 2 can encrypt
In cryptography, encryption (more specifically, encoding) is the process of transforming information in a way that, ideally, only authorized parties can decode. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plai ...
and digitally sign message data, request signed receipts and also offers high levels of data compression
In information theory, data compression, source coding, or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Any particular compression is either lossy or lossless. Lossless compressi ...
. All of these services are available when using OFTP 2 over TCP/IP
The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suite are ...
, X.25/ISDN or native X.25. When used over a TCP/IP network such as the Internet, additional session-level security is available by using OFTP 2 over Transport Layer Security
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network, such as the Internet. The protocol is widely used in applications such as email, instant messaging, and voice over ...
(TLS).
OFTP 2 feature summary
* Message encryption
* Message signatures
* Signed receipts
* Message compression
* Message integrity
* Session authentication
* File & session level encryption (TLS)
* CMS envelopes
* Sub-level addressing
Advantages
* File restart
* Push / pull operation
* Peer-to-peer or indirect communications
* File compression
* Operates over TCP/IP, X.25/ISDN, native X.25
* Maximum file size of 9 PB (Petabyte
The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable un ...
s)
* SHA-256 and PFS security
References
{{Reflist
External links
RFC5024 - OFTP 2, obsoletes RFC2204
RFC2204 - ODETTE File Transfer Protocol
OFTP 2 Whitepaper
OFTP2 Documentation
Odette Website
;Open source software
Accord Odette OFTP2
mendelson Open Source OFTP2
;Commercial software
Rocket Software • Eurex-c EDI and CAD data exchange solutions via OFTP2
TRUfusion Enterprise • CAD/PLM data exchange solutions using OFTP2
STCP OFTP Suite - Product Suite for process integration and EDI
i-effect • Integrated Solutions for IBM i (AS2, OFTP2, OFTP, etc.)
Bartsch Software !MC5 (OFTP, OFTP2, EDI converter, ...)
rvs from T-Systems-International GmbH
ArcESB MFT
FT-Master from NUMLOG
DarwinEpic
an
Odex
b
Data Interchange Plc
ET-Connector EDI Integration suite
Encode Networks Svenska AB
OS4X - The Odette System for Unix
HUENGSBERG - engDAX with OFTP2
EDICOM OFTP2 SERVER
xTrade Business Communications Suite
Avenum EDI as a Service (AS2, OFTP, Mail, VAN etc.)
ipOFTP • Appliance with OFTP protocol and EDI functionality built in
Application layer protocols
Clear text protocols
Internet protocols
Internet Standards
Network protocols
Network file transfer protocols
Unix network-related software