How to get my large file from here to there?

October 13, 2009 7:50 PM

How to privately share a large set of files with a large club? Having trouble getting bittorrent to work.

I have a 8gb collection of photos that I helped touch up and organize for a club I was in. Now I am across the country, but most of the other members are all on the same college network.

I tried creating a torrent with transmission using http://tracker.publicbt.com:80/announce as the tracker and gave the people the torrent directly. One person was able to download the whole thing, but now no one is able to find anyone seeding the file, even though I have transmission open, but it isn't finding any peers. I am using osx10.5 and connecting wirelessly my cable internet.

Any thoughts on what might be making the torrent not work or how to fix it?

Alternatively any suggestions on how to get the files out to the people who want them? I don't want to do anything that will have them open to any random person.

posted by vegetableagony to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Try the free trial of drop.io manager. (Drop.io is my favorite filesharing website. Their normal free service is limited to 100 MB, but the free trial of drop.io manager will get you 10 GB of space for a month. As with all free trials, if you want it to be free, make sure you opt-out when the month is up.) Drop.io will give you a url that you can send to everyone, from which they can download the files.
posted by ocherdraco at 7:55 PM on October 13

If you're on the same network, just turn on File Sharing in your Network preferences. Click the Options button and put a check next to the FTP option, unless everyone's using Macs.

Add the folder you wish to share to the list of shared folders by clicking the + button and browsing to it. Set appropriate permissions.

On the receiver's side, use any FTP client to get the files. I suggest FileZilla on Windows and Transmit on Mac.
posted by odinsdream at 8:48 PM on October 13

Oh, I see that though everyone else is on the same network, you're separate. In that case you'll need to forward the appropriate FTP ports on your router to the computer with File Sharing enabled. Give people your public IP address for them to use in the FTP client.
posted by odinsdream at 8:51 PM on October 13

Filthy leechers!

Check to see that your BitTorrent port is open. Or ask the others to see how many seeders are reported.

If drop.io has enough space, I'd seriously consider it; it could be faster & simpler & more secure/discreet.
posted by Pronoiac at 9:03 PM on October 13

You might consider just burning them to DVD and mailing them.

Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway.
posted by flabdablet at 11:49 PM on October 13

DropBox may also help, esp. if you'd also like them to be able to share files back your way.
posted by bhance at 12:06 PM on October 14