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Help! How best to transfer big files?
Thread poster: 564354352 (X)
564354352 (X)
564354352 (X)  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 17:02
Danish to English
+ ...
Apr 5, 2013

Have any of you got any good tips on how to transfer big files?

I just had to send a 325 MB file to a client and used Dropbox. It took two hours to upload the file (and yes, I do have a fast Internet connection), and I expect my client will now have to wait quite a while for the file to download, then go through the same process to forward the material to the end client. A nightmare when you are trying to meet deadlines.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. ... See more
Have any of you got any good tips on how to transfer big files?

I just had to send a 325 MB file to a client and used Dropbox. It took two hours to upload the file (and yes, I do have a fast Internet connection), and I expect my client will now have to wait quite a while for the file to download, then go through the same process to forward the material to the end client. A nightmare when you are trying to meet deadlines.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Max Deryagin
Max Deryagin  Identity Verified
Russian Federation
Local time: 21:02
Member (2013)
English to Russian
Use special transfer services Apr 5, 2013

I normally use Transfer Big Files. The interface is rather intuitive, so I'm sure you'll be able to figure how it works

[Edited at 2013-04-05 13:26 GMT]

[Edited at 2013-04-05 13:27 GMT]


 
Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL
Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:02
Member (2006)
English to Polish
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SITE LOCALIZER
You can use Skype Apr 5, 2013

At least your client received the file at the same time when you are uploading it.

 
John Holland
John Holland  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 17:02
French to English
Some more options Apr 5, 2013

I generally use Ubuntu one, a free service. It allows you to obtain a direct URL for the file to be downloaded which can then be sent to a client. It can be used with Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone, although I've only ever used it with Ubuntu Linux.
https://one.ubuntu.com/
https://one.ubuntu.com/downloads/<
... See more
I generally use Ubuntu one, a free service. It allows you to obtain a direct URL for the file to be downloaded which can then be sent to a client. It can be used with Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone, although I've only ever used it with Ubuntu Linux.
https://one.ubuntu.com/
https://one.ubuntu.com/downloads/

I've also used the free service from the French Internet provider, Free.fr, which has a fast FTP interface that can be handy:
http://dl.free.fr/
The site is all in French, though, so it might not work for you and your clients.
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564354352 (X)
564354352 (X)  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 17:02
Danish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Many thanks - great advice Apr 5, 2013

Thanks guys, I really appreciate all of your useful tips.

I like 'intuitive' tools a lot.

I hadn't thought of using Skype that way, but will definitely give it a go.

Funnily, John, this particular client IS French, so your tip may be extra useful in this particular case.


 
Tony M
Tony M
France
Local time: 17:02
Member
French to English
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SITE LOCALIZER
FTP Apr 5, 2013

I find FTP to be a good solution, and in the past have been very satisfied with CuteFTP (paying).

Of course, you need to have an FTP hosting location, but if your customer hasn't already got one, you might try asking a friend (or even another customer!) to lend you some space on their server — or of course, you could make use of the ProZ.com FTP hosting facility (a member-only feature, I think).

Although it's not instant like Skype, it does seem to me to give the fast
... See more
I find FTP to be a good solution, and in the past have been very satisfied with CuteFTP (paying).

Of course, you need to have an FTP hosting location, but if your customer hasn't already got one, you might try asking a friend (or even another customer!) to lend you some space on their server — or of course, you could make use of the ProZ.com FTP hosting facility (a member-only feature, I think).

Although it's not instant like Skype, it does seem to me to give the fastest file transfer time of all, and the file is immediately available for your customer as soon as the transfer has finished. In the case of CuteFTP, it also had one amazingly useful feature: the ability to pick up again where it left off if the transfer got interrupted!

I assume you are already using a file compression utility to make sure the files are as small as possible before you start?

I did once have serious problems transferring a large document; I eventually found it was a lot bigger than necessary as it had hidden changes (involving hi-res photos!); once I cleared all those out, the file came down to a much more manageable size again!

[Edited at 2013-04-05 14:09 GMT]
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564354352 (X)
564354352 (X)  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 17:02
Danish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
FTP used to work, but no more :( Apr 5, 2013

Thanks for the suggestion, Tony. This client does have an FTP server, but with limited storage capacity, and for some reason, I can no longer upload files to it anyway, which I have otherwise done hundreds of times before. This is why we started using Dropbox.

And yes, I zipped the files I was sending, and yes, the files contained loads of images, and I did consider removing them all, but that would just have meant that the end client, who had carefully inserted all the images into
... See more
Thanks for the suggestion, Tony. This client does have an FTP server, but with limited storage capacity, and for some reason, I can no longer upload files to it anyway, which I have otherwise done hundreds of times before. This is why we started using Dropbox.

And yes, I zipped the files I was sending, and yes, the files contained loads of images, and I did consider removing them all, but that would just have meant that the end client, who had carefully inserted all the images into the source file, would have had to re-insert them, which would have been a bit inconvenient. But it could have been a last resort.

However, I had already shredded (!) the original 175-page 325 MB source file into five separate documents just to be able to work in it, so I didn't think it was fair to make life even more difficult for the end client. You know: "We aim to serve" ....
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 17:02
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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FTP is best, but... Apr 5, 2013

Tony M wrote:
I find FTP to be a good solution... Of course, you need to have an FTP hosting location...


Or you could set up an FTP server on your own computer, if you have fast internet and you don't mind if the client downloads only when you are on. The problem is that I haven't found an easy-to-install and easy-to-configure FTP server for my computer system (Windows 7).

Opera used to have a service called "Unite" which turned a folder on your own hard drive into a dropbox that people could log in to and transfer files from (or to), but they have now stopped that service, for some reason. There must be similar things available -- does anyone know?


 
John Holland
John Holland  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 17:02
French to English
FTP server Apr 5, 2013

Samuel Murray wrote:
The problem is that I haven't found an easy-to-install and easy-to-configure FTP server for my computer system (Windows 7).

Have you ever tried FileZilla? It has a server version for Windows.

https://filezilla-project.org/


 
Rolf Keller
Rolf Keller
Germany
Local time: 17:02
English to German
Upload speed vs. download speed Apr 5, 2013

Gitte Hovedskov Hansen wrote:

Have any of you got any good tips on how to transfer big files?

I just had to send a 325 MB file to a client and used Dropbox. It took two hours to upload the file (and yes, I do have a fast Internet connection), and I expect my client will now have to wait quite a while for the file to download


Don't overlook the fact that most Internet connections for home and home office usage are asymmetrical. E. g. my connection (not a very fast one) features 1 MBit/s upload but 16 MBit/s downlad – so your 2 hours would melt down to 8 min at the receiver's site.

Ask your provider for a high upload speed.


 
Lise Leavitt
Lise Leavitt  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 12:02
Member (2008)
Danish to English
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https://www.wetransfer.com/ Apr 5, 2013

Gitte Hovedskov Hansen wrote:

Have any of you got any good tips on how to transfer big files?



I customer referred me to this once in case of a huge TM...it was extremely fast and easy =)

Lise


 
564354352 (X)
564354352 (X)  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 17:02
Danish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for great tips Apr 5, 2013

I'm chuffed with all the good suggestions, and look forward to trying them all out!

Upload/download speed... I know, Rolf, and I have the best possible service for my area, it still doesn't shift things quick enough for my liking.


 
José Raeiro
José Raeiro  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:02
English to Portuguese
Sendspace Apr 5, 2013

http://www.sendspace.com/

 
Tony M
Tony M
France
Local time: 17:02
Member
French to English
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SITE LOCALIZER
YouSendIt Apr 5, 2013

I don't think anyone's so far suggested YouSendIt?

I've found this easy to use (much simpler than DropBox!), and just as quick.


 
Oliver Walter
Oliver Walter  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:02
German to English
+ ...
WinZip Apr 5, 2013

WinZip can both compress files and break them into pieces, each in its own Zip file (and then re-assemble then when decompressing). This may make it easier to handle a problem like this, but I suppose 325 MB might still be too much: for example, if the Zip files are half the size of the originals, 325 MB would compress to 163 MB, which could then be sent as 21 files, each less than 8 MB. (I'm using 8 MB as an example because my webmail service limits each sent email to 8 MB.)
This method m
... See more
WinZip can both compress files and break them into pieces, each in its own Zip file (and then re-assemble then when decompressing). This may make it easier to handle a problem like this, but I suppose 325 MB might still be too much: for example, if the Zip files are half the size of the originals, 325 MB would compress to 163 MB, which could then be sent as 21 files, each less than 8 MB. (I'm using 8 MB as an example because my webmail service limits each sent email to 8 MB.)
This method may be unsuitable for Gitte but perhaps a good idea for other people.

(Of course, if you do that, the recipient must have a program such as Winzip that can do the decompressing and recombining.)

Oliver

[Edited at 2013-04-05 20:34 GMT]
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Help! How best to transfer big files?






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