How to share large data files between two computers?

[Rudyard]

My mate and I are doing some 3d CAD/rendering work together. We need to exchange files when sharing work however we live and work about 1 hour away from each other and do this job after hours so USB drop offs are no good + we may need spontanious adjustments to things when communicating over the phone.

I thought the hotmail skydrive could be the answer with 25gb storage, we could just upload/download from a common account however that restricts file sizes to 50mb, a fully textured and complex CAD/MAX files can get larger than that.

I also found uploading times to be a little slow but I think thats at my end with restricted uploading (why do ISPs do that?).

Winrar can break files up and repackage them cant it??

What would be our options and how do other people/companies overcome the issue of large data transfer?

Would FTP be any good? I dont really understand it but do we send files directly to each others computers via FTP (we submitted to uni computers this way)?

[johns0]

Easiest way to send would be to use external hd with usb 2.0,cheapest but longer way is to use 8gb flash sticks with files being split with winrar.

[AlanHK]

There are many ways, FTP certainly works,

Get a free FTP server on each PC, eg CesarFTP from http://www.aclogic.com/
(I see they now also offer a new product, "ACFile Server", but don't know anything about that, might be even easier.)

If you have fixed IPs, just use the IP numbers.
Otherwise you might use DynamicDNS to give your PCs named addresses.


But a better alternative might be remote desktops, where you can control each other's PC.
TeamViewer http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx is very good, free and easy to use.
It also allows file transfer.

[mazinz]

better way would be to purchase this item becasue it works wonders:


http://thetornado.com/backup_files.asp


you can get this at Staples and amazon. Worked very fast and super easy when I had to transfer a 16 gig file from my friend's laptop to my desktop pc (he was running vista and I am on XP)


*** NEVERMIND I read the original post too fast

[johns0]

Ulnless you got fast connections ftp is going to be really slow cause most isp cap their upload limit to usually 120kBPS and get mad when you use too much bandwidth in a certain amount of time,best to check on your isp limits.

Isp dont like customers uploading too fast cause it hampers their bandwidth distribution.

[AlanHK]

Ulnless you got fast connections ftp is going to be really slow cause most isp cap their upload limit to usually 120kBPS and get mad when you use too much bandwidth in a certain amount of time,best to check on your isp limits.

This would be a lot less intensive than BitTorrent, and intermittent rather than streaming gigabytes continuously.

If you pay for broadband this is entirely legitimate.

[Rudyard]

There are many ways, FTP certainly works,

Get a free FTP server on each PC, eg CesarFTP from http://www.aclogic.com/
(I see they now also offer a new product, "ACFile Server", but don't know anything about that, might be even easier.)

If you have fixed IPs, just use the IP numbers.
Otherwise you might use DynamicDNS to give your PCs named addresses.


But a better alternative might be remote desktops, where you can control each other's PC.
TeamViewer http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx is very good, free and easy to use.
It also allows file transfer.

Thankyou all for your replies.

Are there any security risks with these sort of things? I mean can someone else gain easy access to our PCs or is it secure?

[johns0]

It all depends on how much is going to sent at one time,Rudyard,how much needs to be uploaded at one time?

[Rudyard]

Well I have had probably 70-80mb cad files to date, so I would imaging 100mb should be big enough (maybe it wont get bigger than 80mb not sure yet depends how big the job is).

[AlanHK]

Are there any security risks with these sort of things? I mean can someone else gain easy access to our PCs or is it secure?

If you set sensible (longish, not dictionary words) passwords, they're pretty safe.
For FTP, make sure you're not putting your entire drive online... you just choose a specific folder.

See http://www.teamviewer.com/products/security.aspx forTeamviewer.

Always a risk though.

[johns0]

Thats small stuff to send by ftp,shouldnt take more than 5 minutes going at 120Kbps.You can encrypt the files before you send also if security is a concern.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Since you are doing it while on the phone, why not use a Remote Desktop/NetMeeting/VNC kind of thing so that one of you runs the CAD software and the other can control it? Just a thought.l

[RabidDog]

Upgrade to sdsl . Even if you go for a low end business package you'll (both) have MUCH faster upload speeds ... maybe £20 to 50 over what you are paying - if you choose wisely. FTP the encrypted files to each other.

[Rudyard]

Are there any security risks with these sort of things? I mean can someone else gain easy access to our PCs or is it secure?

If you set sensible (longish, not dictionary words) passwords, they're pretty safe.
For FTP, make sure you're not putting your entire drive online... you just choose a specific folder.

See http://www.teamviewer.com/products/security.aspx forTeamviewer.

Always a risk though.

Thanks I will look into it.

Thats small stuff to send by ftp,shouldnt take more than 5 minutes going at 120Kbps.You can encrypt the files before you send also if security is a concern.

Thats great to hear, uploading to hotmail skydrive, a 9mb photoshop file took about 10-15minutes. If I can get a whole 80mb CAD file in that time via FTP it would be perfect.

Since you are doing it while on the phone, why not use a Remote Desktop/NetMeeting/VNC kind of thing so that one of you runs the CAD software and the other can control it? Just a thought.l

lol, I didnt even know this technology existed! Will do some research.

Upgrade to sdsl . Even if you go for a low end business package you'll (both) have MUCH faster upload speeds ... maybe £20 to 50 over what you are paying - if you choose wisely. FTP the encrypted files to each other.

Unfortunately I am restricted to cable from 1 service provider at my house, I am unable to get any other type of connection.....not that I have heard of SDSL anyway, is it available in Australia (an internet backwater)?


Thanks everyone for your help, can I confirm, FTP (file transfer protocol) simply sets up a connection to 2 computers on the net and transfers the files directly to each other? YOu both must be online at the same time or does it go to cyberspace and pass on when the other comes online?

[johns0]

For ftp service both computers have to be on and its direct file transfer protocol.Both computers need client and server ftps to send files to each other.

Ftp doesnt require being on the net(browser),it just requires a internet connection

[AlanHK]

Since you are doing it while on the phone, why not use a Remote Desktop/NetMeeting/VNC kind of thing so that one of you runs the CAD software and the other can control it? Just a thought.l

lol, I didnt even know this technology existed! Will do some research.

That's what Teamviewer is, as I mentioned.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_remote_desktop_software for alternatives.

Upgrade to sdsl . Even if you go for a low end business package you'll (both) have MUCH faster upload speeds ... maybe £20 to 50 over what you are paying - if you choose wisely. FTP the encrypted files to each other.

Unfortunately I am restricted to cable from 1 service provider at my house, I am unable to get any other type of connection.....not that I have heard of SDSL anyway, is it available in Australia (an internet backwater)?

I wouldn't worry about it for the filesizes you are talking about (unless you can get your company to pay for it). Unlikely to be available in the suburbs anyway.

Thanks everyone for your help, can I confirm, FTP (file transfer protocol) simply sets up a connection to 2 computers on the net and transfers the files directly to each other? You both must be online at the same time or does it go to cyberspace and pass on when the other comes online?

One PC is the FTP server, the other logs on and the file transfers directly, not stored anywhere else. So you both have to be online. On the upside there is no limit to the size of files.


But I suggest Teamviewer which allows you to do a lot more than simply transfer files.
Just spend 30 minutes reading their docs first.

[Rudyard]

Thankyou ALan, will do.