Transfering Large Files to New MBA =(

[cbdoc]

Due to lack of a Firewire port, I can't find a simple way to directly transfer large files (80gb) directly to my MBA from my iMac.

One approach I have not tried yet is a direct lan connection using a network cable.

Is there a way, without installing Windows to transfer directly via USB?

Any other methods I should consider?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Don't you have an external HDD?
What about using a USB-Ethernet adapter?

 

[AdrianK]

-snip-

 

[xraydoc]

USB hard drive (fastest), Ethernet (will top out at 100Mbit/sec via USB adapter), wifi (slow; 80GB will take many hours, but it's doable in a pinch).

 

[cbdoc]

Sounds like I'll have to resort to a USB HDD. I don't have one and don't plan on having much use for one that's why I was trying to avoid this approach.

Thanks all.

 

[Krevnik]

wifi (slow; 80GB will take many hours, but it's doable in a pinch).

Depends on your network. I push over a 1GB/min with my 802.11n network at home. Fast enough that that 80GB will be just under an hour or so. That said, I didn't bother to measure the actual transfer rate I was getting, so it may only be possible on 300+Mbps 802.11n on the 5Ghz band.

 

[cbdoc]

Depends on your network. I push over a 1GB/min with my 802.11n network at home. Fast enough that that 80GB will be just under an hour or so. That said, I didn't bother to measure the actual transfer rate I was getting, so it may only be possible on 300+Mbps 802.11n on the 5Ghz band.

1gb/min is pretty incredible. I also have a 802.11n network and could restrict it to 5ghz... Though from experience with my setup, I don't see nearly the speeds you are mentioning here. Will give it another shot before buying a USB HDD.

Thanks!

 

[ovrlrd]

This will be less of a problem once Thunderbolt accessories come out (hello 10Gbps connection), but for now 5ghz 802.11n is pretty fast and seems fine, otherwise USB works well too.

 

[eeptman]

oops… wrong reply

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Sounds like I'll have to resort to a USB HDD. I don't have one and don't plan on having much use for one that's why I was trying to avoid this approach.

Thanks all.

Depending what kind of important data you have and how much disk capacity they take, it might be good to have an external HDD for backup purposes.

 

[cbdoc]

Depending what kind of important data you have and how much disk capacity they take, it might be good to have an external HDD for backup purposes.

Agreed. I'm using a Time Machine for backup/router at the moment and its working well enough. When that gets full, I could see where an external HDD would be useful. But at that point, I will probably opt for a more robust solution than an external HDD.

 

[michaelz]

One approach I have not tried yet is a direct lan connection using a network cable.

LAN connection is all you need. I transferred 120G data from my old MBP to new MBA. Just start the transfer, then go watch a movie...

 

[h00ligan]

Depends on your network. I push over a 1GB/min with my 802.11n network at home. Fast enough that that 80GB will be just under an hour or so. That said, I didn't bother to measure the actual transfer rate I was getting, so it may only be possible on 300+Mbps 802.11n on the 5Ghz band.

I assume you are using a multichannel router?

On an all airport extreme setup - painstakingly optimized - a gig is just over 3 minutes (single file) from a wired connection - throughput is around 8000kbps or so iirc. So a gig a minute is REALLY fast for n to pull off, unless as stated it's some kind of MIMO router and devices can take advantage of it. My speed goes down noticeably when transferring multiple small files, as you would expect.

That said, ad hock would be faster for machine to machine transfer from an older device (if it has N)

 

[pil0tflame]

If you have a USB to USB cable (though uncommon in my experience), boot either your iMac OR your MBA in target disk mode by holding down the "T" key when powering on the system from off, then connect them together with the USB cable. The system not in target disk mode should see the other as a USB attached HDD. From there, copy your file over.

Many people believe incorrectly that target disk mode only works with Firewire, but I can speak from multiple experiences that does work with USB too.

Even with a USB2.0 connection, you should easily get more than 1GB/min transfer.

 

[stevenpa]

My previous post was retarded. I was thinking mbps not gbps. Go with the external fastest by far.

 

[Azathoth]

If you have a USB to USB cable (though uncommon in my experience), boot either your iMac OR your MBA in target disk mode by holding down the "T" key when powering on the system from off, then connect them together with the USB cable. The system not in target disk mode should see the other as a USB attached HDD. From there, copy your file over.

Many people believe incorrectly that target disk mode only works with Firewire, but I can speak from multiple experiences that does work with USB too.

Even with a USB2.0 connection, you should easily get more than 1GB/min transfer.

I have the same Q as the OP (finding the quickest way to transfer).

With a Cisco E4200 110GB took about 2:30 from a 1000Mbps Ethernet connected NAS. Connection speed is 270Mbps to the 2011 MBA - I think the chipset speed is 300Mbps max. But max. data throughput for 802.11g/n protocols is about half the indicated connection rate. I've measured 80-90Mbps throughput with my old 2010 MBP (same chipset).

Hmm, I dont see that USB would work under target disk mode - and how should the cable / connectors be wired? USB is normally Host/Client with 5V on the bus...

 

[deeddawg]

If you can sustain 80-90Mbps, it should still result in ~30GB/hour. Depending on how often you need to move tens of GB, the fastest overall may still be wireless if its a one-time thing and it takes a couple hours to figure out a non-wireless mechanism...

 

[vitzr]

If you have a USB to USB cable (though uncommon in my experience), boot either your iMac OR your MBA in target disk mode by holding down the "T" key when powering on the system from off, then connect them together with the USB cable. The system not in target disk mode should see the other as a USB attached HDD. From there, copy your file over.

Many people believe incorrectly that target disk mode only works with Firewire, but I can speak from multiple experiences that does work with USB too.

Even with a USB2.0 connection, you should easily get more than 1GB/min transfer.

Your suggestion is a good one for those who do not have an external drive.

These cables are fairly easy to pickup locally or via Amazon.