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Cascade Help

File Storage Options

Large File Storage

Files of any type (including PDFs and images) larger than 10MB cannot be uploaded directly into Cascade. For such files, we have created a server called media.wm.edu.

Shrinking Your Files

Before moving content to media.wm.edu, you should try shrinking your file for the web, which may reduce it to a size compatible with Cascade. We recommend two tools for this purpose:

  • For images that exceed 10MB, we recommend Squoosh.
  • For PDFs exceeding 10MB, we recommend SmallPDF. In addition to compressing your PDF size, Squoosh can merge or split PDFs and convert PPT, JPG, Excel or Word documents to PDF.

After shrinking for the web, if your file remains larger than 10MB, you must host it on the media.wm.edu web server.

Access to the Media Server

Here's the process to access media.wm.edu:

  1. Send a message to [[creative]] requesting access to media.wm.edu. Include your W&M Username and your Cascade website.
  2. When you get the response that your W&M Username has been granted access, you can then map a network drive (on-campus only) or use an S-FTP client to access your assigned storage folder, which you'll be provided. See "Connecting to Your Storage Folder" below for more specific instructions.
  3. Open your storage folder and drag and drop in your media files.
    Files names must be all lowercase with no spaces, and use the proper file extension at the end, such as .pdf, .jpg, .mp3, etc.
  4. Once in your storage folder, your media will be publicly accessible on the web at:
    https://media.wm.edu/content/your-storage-folder-path/your-media-filename.xyz
Connecting to Your Storage Folder
On Campus Using Windows

These instructions are for on-campus Windows computers only and require you to have already been granted access to a media.wm.edu storage folder.

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Right-click on "Computer" or "This PC" in the file tree, then select "Map network drive..."
  3. In the popup window:
    1. Select any available letter for the drive.
    2. For folder, using your-storage-folder-path, type:
      \\fsx-files.campus.wm.edu\virtualhosts\media.wm.edu\content\your-storage-folder-path
  4. Finish.
On Campus Using MacOS:
  1. In the Finder, select "Connect To Server..." from the "Go" menu.
  2. In the Server Address field, using your-storage-folder-path, type:
      smb://fsx-files.campus.wm.edu/virtualhosts/media.wm.edu/content/your-storage-folder-path
  3. Click connect.
  4. When prompted, enter your W&M Username and your password.
Off-Campus Using Windows or MacOS
  1. Download and install an S-FTP client application such as Secure FTP for Windows, Fugu for MacOS, or CyberDuck for Windows and MacOS. If you need assistance downloading and installing an S-FTP client, contact the IT Technology Support Center at [[support]].
  2. Open a new connection and, using path-to-your-storage-folder, provide these details:
    server = webftp.wm.edu
    path = /virtualhosts/media.wm.edu/content/your-storage-folder-path