Help transfering large file
December 21, 2008 2:02 PM Subscribe
How can I transfer 9 GB of data to somebody far away? A download solution would be best, but it's such an enormous size I don't know how to go about it. Any suggestions?
Best answer: Drop Box charges a fee for anything over 2GB - that's ot a good plan -
1) Can this data be compressed? If it's largely text, you can probably get it down to a fraction of the size. If it's pre-compressed data, like JPG images or Divx movies, you won't have much luck. If you can zip it down, it will save you a lot of time transferring.
2) Does it have to be there immediately? If not, burn the data onto two DVDs and mail it. Quick and simple.
3) If you really need an electronic solution, there are many options. Two easy ones are LiveDrive which will host the files, or FilePhile, which will do a direct transfer.
posted by chrisamiller at 2:25 PM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]
1) Can this data be compressed? If it's largely text, you can probably get it down to a fraction of the size. If it's pre-compressed data, like JPG images or Divx movies, you won't have much luck. If you can zip it down, it will save you a lot of time transferring.
2) Does it have to be there immediately? If not, burn the data onto two DVDs and mail it. Quick and simple.
3) If you really need an electronic solution, there are many options. Two easy ones are LiveDrive which will host the files, or FilePhile, which will do a direct transfer.
posted by chrisamiller at 2:25 PM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]
Yes - to repeat what chrisamiller says, if you don't need it there immediately, I would consider the postal service.
posted by Pants! at 2:26 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by Pants! at 2:26 PM on December 21, 2008
Split it up and use Rapidshare/Megaupload?
Set up a FTP server with a password?
posted by dunkadunc at 2:26 PM on December 21, 2008
Set up a FTP server with a password?
posted by dunkadunc at 2:26 PM on December 21, 2008
Postal service may have high latency, but you can't beat a box of dvds for bandwidth. Thirding chrisamiller about using postal service if it's not urgent.
posted by reformedjerk at 2:28 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by reformedjerk at 2:28 PM on December 21, 2008
If it is compressible, use something like 7-zip on maximum compression -- the few hours required to compress it will likely be dwarfed time saved over the tubes.
7-zip can also split the files up into DVD-size chunks, if that makes it easier.
posted by katrielalex at 2:31 PM on December 21, 2008
7-zip can also split the files up into DVD-size chunks, if that makes it easier.
posted by katrielalex at 2:31 PM on December 21, 2008
uh... "will be dwarfed by the time saved"...
posted by katrielalex at 2:34 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by katrielalex at 2:34 PM on December 21, 2008
Set up a shared folder on Live Sync? There is a 4GB per file size limit, but if all of the files you need to share are less than that size there shouldn't be a problem as far as I know.
posted by puritycontrol at 2:34 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by puritycontrol at 2:34 PM on December 21, 2008
okay, it says "file". sorry.
posted by puritycontrol at 2:35 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by puritycontrol at 2:35 PM on December 21, 2008
Response by poster: @ dunkadunc.. Breaking it up into 100 MB files would be really really tedious... I'm going to try zipping it up and see if that makes a difference.
posted by Raichle at 2:36 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by Raichle at 2:36 PM on December 21, 2008
Why not setup an HTTP server on your local machine and let them download it directly from you?
Apache dosn't have a GUI but it's not that hard to use if you just want to transfer one file. Download it, install it, and then drop your file in the C:\program files\apache group\apache\htdocs.
If you're behind a firewall/router you may need to look up your external IP address and possibly enable port forwarding on port 80.
Anyway, once you get that figured out, just give the person you want to send the file too a link like http://your-ip-address/your-filename
posted by delmoi at 2:44 PM on December 21, 2008
Apache dosn't have a GUI but it's not that hard to use if you just want to transfer one file. Download it, install it, and then drop your file in the C:\program files\apache group\apache\htdocs.
If you're behind a firewall/router you may need to look up your external IP address and possibly enable port forwarding on port 80.
Anyway, once you get that figured out, just give the person you want to send the file too a link like http://your-ip-address/your-filename
posted by delmoi at 2:44 PM on December 21, 2008
Maybe you could set it up as a torrent file.
posted by anansi at 2:48 PM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by anansi at 2:48 PM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]
python one-line webserver
This would require installing python, which should be easy. Then go into the directory with the files, and run:
python -c 'import SimpleHTTPServer;SimpleHTTPServer.test()'
I'd chop up the file into 4-5 chunks, if possible; downloading it as one piece and having the connection crash when 98% done would suck.
posted by sebastienbailard at 2:56 PM on December 21, 2008
This would require installing python, which should be easy. Then go into the directory with the files, and run:
python -c 'import SimpleHTTPServer;SimpleHTTPServer.test()'
I'd chop up the file into 4-5 chunks, if possible; downloading it as one piece and having the connection crash when 98% done would suck.
posted by sebastienbailard at 2:56 PM on December 21, 2008
Skype will resume crashed transfers. So you can use that on the whole 9gb file.
p.s. FilePhile sounds reasonable too. An http server will require screwing with your firewall, which I guessing you don't understand. rar, zip, etc. can all split the file into 1 gig chunks, small enough for drop box live sync, etc., but not small enough for email, and still requires patience.
posted by jeffburdges at 3:34 PM on December 21, 2008
p.s. FilePhile sounds reasonable too. An http server will require screwing with your firewall, which I guessing you don't understand. rar, zip, etc. can all split the file into 1 gig chunks, small enough for drop box live sync, etc., but not small enough for email, and still requires patience.
posted by jeffburdges at 3:34 PM on December 21, 2008
Breaking it up into 100 MB files would be really really tedious
Dropping the file on a file splitter and specifying "100 MB" does not meet my definition of tedium, but it does require the recipient to have the corresponding utility for joining the pieces back together, so it's probably not optimal.
I vote for your favorite chat program, such as AIM or MSN. These have file transfer features with auto-resume if the transfer is interrupted. Failing that, use a local HTTP server. Failing that, mail some DVDs.
posted by kindall at 3:40 PM on December 21, 2008
Dropping the file on a file splitter and specifying "100 MB" does not meet my definition of tedium, but it does require the recipient to have the corresponding utility for joining the pieces back together, so it's probably not optimal.
I vote for your favorite chat program, such as AIM or MSN. These have file transfer features with auto-resume if the transfer is interrupted. Failing that, use a local HTTP server. Failing that, mail some DVDs.
posted by kindall at 3:40 PM on December 21, 2008
Not sure if this is a possibility, but there's SpinXpress or other peer to peer solutions to look into...?
posted by rmm at 4:19 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by rmm at 4:19 PM on December 21, 2008
I'd use a torrent file. uTorrent can be easily turned into a tracker and the most painful thing will be forwarding one port on your router. The download for your friend might take a while (depending on your upload speed) but you will not have to worry about corrupted data (these chunks will be re-downloaded automatically), interrrupted transfers (IM, http) splitting up the file, entering stupid captchas and resetting IPs (megaupload et. al), etc. I've successfully transfered large amounts of data via torrent to friends and coworkers before, it works really well.
posted by starzero at 4:19 PM on December 21, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by starzero at 4:19 PM on December 21, 2008 [2 favorites]
Google doesn't even bother with the DVDs. They just ship a whole HD. a 10G drive should be dirt cheap (if you can even find one).
posted by ArgentCorvid at 4:34 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by ArgentCorvid at 4:34 PM on December 21, 2008
Dont use bit torrent.
torrents are designed for when tons of people want one file.
It has no real benefit for just person to person.
If either of the people live in countries with really crappy internet then mail is the best options.
For 10 gigs a harddrive is too heavy just use dvds or flash drives.
If the internet is good for both people then try with the instant messenger file transfer. There are alot of other programs that could be used to transfer the file, but they would require some computer know how for one or both of the people.
posted by Iax at 4:42 PM on December 21, 2008
torrents are designed for when tons of people want one file.
It has no real benefit for just person to person.
If either of the people live in countries with really crappy internet then mail is the best options.
For 10 gigs a harddrive is too heavy just use dvds or flash drives.
If the internet is good for both people then try with the instant messenger file transfer. There are alot of other programs that could be used to transfer the file, but they would require some computer know how for one or both of the people.
posted by Iax at 4:42 PM on December 21, 2008
You will need to break it up for a direct transfer. Typical residential internet connections have a very low upload cap. 256k is typical. Transfering 9gb on 256k upload would take 3 days of 100% use of your bandwdith. You bet the connection will crap out for a multitude of reasons. It doesnt matter what method you use, you must break up the file into 50 or 100 meg segments as file transfers fail frequently. Or use a torrent tracker, which does the breakup automatically and has a higher level of fault tolerance.
If both the receiver and the sender are technically unsophisticated (afterall you are asking this question) then the best thing to do is copy it to a USB drive and mail it.
posted by damn dirty ape at 4:54 PM on December 21, 2008
If both the receiver and the sender are technically unsophisticated (afterall you are asking this question) then the best thing to do is copy it to a USB drive and mail it.
posted by damn dirty ape at 4:54 PM on December 21, 2008
You know, I decided to check out Microsoft's Live.com updates a few days ago out of curiosity about what they're doing. When you create an account, you get 25Gb storage, as I recall. I don't see why you couldn't just create an account, tell the other person the login credentials, and use that. I would assume MS's servers would be reasonably fast. If it supports resumable downloads, the other person could use one of the many tools to do that.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:56 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:56 PM on December 21, 2008
Hamachi is a good choice too, if you want to directly transfer files from your machine.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:31 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:31 PM on December 21, 2008
Dropping the file on a file splitter and specifying "100 MB" does not meet my definition of tedium, but it does require the recipient to have the corresponding utility for joining the pieces back together, so it's probably not optimal.
Just use either WinRAR or the aforementioned 7zip and when compressing it say you want volumes of x MB each and then it makes chunks. Then on the other side the person uses the same package to unpack and all is well. No need to get yet another software package into the mix. Personally I'd just use WinRAR myself.
posted by barc0001 at 6:25 PM on December 21, 2008
If you can't compress the 9 GB, any online solution — whether FTP or online storage or messaging — will be limited by the upload bandwidth of the sender. As damn dirty ape pointed out, it could take a surprisingly long time (days) at residential DSL speeds.
DVDs and USB drives are your friends.
posted by exphysicist345 at 6:27 PM on December 21, 2008
DVDs and USB drives are your friends.
posted by exphysicist345 at 6:27 PM on December 21, 2008
"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway" Andrew Tanenbaum
posted by Brian Puccio at 7:19 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by Brian Puccio at 7:19 PM on December 21, 2008
Put it on a USB drive or a hard drive and ship it with return postage and packaging included. You can get a 16 gig drive for about $25. They're quite durable, have lot of uses later, and you can ship them in nothing more than a padded envelope. No worries about compression or breaking files into smaller pieces.
posted by Ookseer at 9:20 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by Ookseer at 9:20 PM on December 21, 2008
My calculations say that if you have a full T-1 upstream, you're looking at 150 KB/sec or so upstream. That's 9 MB per minute. You're uploading 9 GB or 9,000 MB, so you're looking at about 1,000 minutes or 16 2/3 hours. If there is an upload error of any kind and you haven't split the file, you'll have to re-upload it at a cost of almost 17 more hours. If you're not transferring the file directly, you'll need to add in a few hours for the recipient to download the file and check it.
Unless you're at a University or somewhere else with ridiculously fast Internet, it will may be less hassle to mail it than upload it.
posted by cnc at 12:16 AM on December 22, 2008
Unless you're at a University or somewhere else with ridiculously fast Internet, it will may be less hassle to mail it than upload it.
posted by cnc at 12:16 AM on December 22, 2008
Purchase 2 DVD-r's. Burn onto DVD-r's, drive them to your nearest fedex/ups office. Do this twice if you want redundancy. As they say, never underestimate the bandwidth of a stationwagon full of tapes. This will be the fastest and cheapest way unless you have a powerful connection at both ends.
I realise you said you would prefer a download solution, and of course you can rsync them (this is going to be the most _reliable_ way to transfer that much data in a speedy fashion, afaik). But it will be at least an order of magnatude slower unless you have a 1.5mbit+ upstream at both ends*
* whihc you may, but I figure that if you did, you would not be asking this question.
posted by jaymzjulian at 4:46 AM on December 22, 2008
I realise you said you would prefer a download solution, and of course you can rsync them (this is going to be the most _reliable_ way to transfer that much data in a speedy fashion, afaik). But it will be at least an order of magnatude slower unless you have a 1.5mbit+ upstream at both ends*
* whihc you may, but I figure that if you did, you would not be asking this question.
posted by jaymzjulian at 4:46 AM on December 22, 2008
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posted by AzzaMcKazza at 2:10 PM on December 21, 2008