What are the potential challenges of using PHP to create a file sharing system with online storage functionality?

One potential challenge of using PHP to create a file sharing system with online storage functionality is ensuring secure file uploads and downloads. To address this, you can implement server-side validation to check file types, size limits, and sanitize file names to prevent malicious uploads.

// Server-side validation for file uploads
$allowed_file_types = array('jpg', 'jpeg', 'png', 'gif');
$max_file_size = 10485760; // 10MB

if ($_FILES['file']['error'] === UPLOAD_ERR_OK) {
    $file_extension = pathinfo($_FILES['file']['name'], PATHINFO_EXTENSION);
    
    if (!in_array($file_extension, $allowed_file_types)) {
        echo "Invalid file type. Please upload a JPG, JPEG, PNG, or GIF file.";
    } elseif ($_FILES['file']['size'] > $max_file_size) {
        echo "File size exceeds limit. Please upload a file smaller than 10MB.";
    } else {
        // Process file upload
    }
} else {
    echo "Error uploading file. Please try again.";
}