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techlover828

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 28, 2007
2,358
2
Maine
I'm trying to get a disk image from someone over the web that's around 7GB, what is the best/quickest/easiest way to transfer this file? We're both on macs, and have tried to do an iChat file transfer but that didn't work. Any ideas?
 
Yeah, for something that large you'd probably be better off mailing it unless you have a really good upload connection.

well we did mail, but then they got lost in the mail I guess and I need it by friday morning, do you think a torrent would be able to finish in that time?
 
well we did mail, but then they got lost in the mail I guess and I need it by friday morning, do you think a torrent would be able to finish in that time?
If it's something that important then I hope you paid for a little more protection then first class mail.

You can pull it off at 40 kB/s.
 
If you Google "transfer large files free" you'll find lots of web-based services that do this. Some have higher limits than others. Some are totally free and some have free trials. You can check them out and decide what you like.
 
If the file is very important and needs to be transferred urgently, and you have access to a Windows computer, you can consider TribalWeb.

I've transferred huge files using it before.
 
FTP is designed exactly for this purpose. FTP is free and has been around "forever" (from the 1980's at least) It will move the data at close to "wire speed" and recover from errors. The trouble is that one of you will need to run an FTP server on your system. An FTP client ships with Mac OS X. It's not hard to set up but I can't type directions in a forum post. You can google for instructions

Second best is to run a web server. Apple makes this easy and you can enable it using Preferences.
 
You should take a look at Papaya!
It's a web server for Mac OS X dedicated to sharing files with friends and since it's a direct connection between you and your pals, there are no bandwidth or size limits!

Keep however in mind that with an upload speed of 50 kbps, it would take your friend about 39 hours - one and a half day - of continous downloading to get the files!

If I were you, I'd reconsider shipping a DVD! Simply ship it in a jewel case or between hard boards to protect it from bending and shocks!
I've done it before and it worked out just fine.
 
I would compress it and split it in smaller chunks. Should the transfer be interrupted you will only have to recover the last part. This will also help you find a service that can transfer the files since the size is now reduced.
 
SFTP if you're going to do it.

OR you could (READ SHOULD) put it in a fed ex envelope and overnight/2-day-air that mother on a DVD-DL...

Make sure whoever burns the disc verifies that it works first though.
 
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