Secure private file management in Drupal
Key words and phrases
drupal private file download private filesTags
Description
Conveniently, there's a whole e-book on the subject:
http://11heavens.com/files-in-Drupal
And some very old threads that come to no happy resolution, Public v. Private download method..." and How to set up proper private file access.
Maybe the answer, whatever the question:
http://drupal.org/project/private_upload
There has been no serious comparison analysis between SharePoint and Drupal. It really depends on what you want to acocmplish and if you want to accomplish it on a file level or through web access.It sounds like you will want to investigate the Organic Groups modules. File handling has a few different modules, you will need to look at them in a test environment as they have different strengths and weaknesses depending on their original purpose.When Drupal saves files (using Private files) it keeps the 'original name' and gives the saved file a random one to avoid naming conflicts.You can setup roles and OG has permissions built in. Do not mix permissions modules as a general rule.
The reason you are moving away from SharePoint is sort of relavant as well in suggesting a solution. Did Share Point not work for you or is it the cost factor?