How to transfer a large file or folder over the Internet (even if the size is over 1000 GB!)

User question

Hello.

Help transfer a folder containing approximately 350 GB of information (various videos, pictures, etc.) from one computer to another over the Internet. The fact is that computers are located in different cities, and so far there is no opportunity to come and transport the disc. Is it possible to solve the problem with little blood?

Michael.

Hello.

Yes, the task of transferring large files and folders is quite common. Specifically, your problem, Mikhail, is not so difficult to solve ... 👌

If you live in large cities, you probably have a normal network connection speed, for example, at least 40-50 Mbps (and this will allow you to transfer about 15-18 GB of information per hour). Thus, to transfer 350 GB, it takes about a day (i.e. one weekend will be enough).

In this article, I will analyze both your task and other ways how you can transfer files / folders of various sizes: from 1 KB to 10000 GB (and more ✌).

So...

Internet File Transfer Methods

Method number 1: using P2P programs (for example, uTorrent)

Yes, if you have such a popular program as uTorrent or its analogues on your computer (and many have it, and it does not take long to download, it weighs a few megabytes only 😊), then you can transfer tens of Gigabytes, but at least the whole disk to each other ...

Advantages of the method:

if the jump is interrupted (for your reason or not), you can continue it from the moment from which the connection was cut off;
there are no third-party servers, services, etc., the transfer goes directly from one PC to another - i.e. you are not dependent on anyone;
free - no need to pay anyone (if only for Internet traffic, but now in many cities the Internet is already unlimited);
you can transfer an unlimited amount of information - at least 1 TB, at least 10 TB ...
the method is very simple: even a completely novice user will figure it out: after 5 minutes you can start transferring a file / folder;
the transferred files do not need to be prepared in any way (compress there, or something else ...);
you can transfer files to several people at once (to several cities, and even countries)!

Minuses:

sending files and downloading them computers must be turned on and simultaneously connected to the network.

So, I will show with an example how and what to do. I omit the download and installation of uTorrent, there is nothing interesting there 👌.

1) After launching uTorrent, go to its settings in the "BitTorrent" section, and check the boxes next to the items:

enable DHT network;
enable DHT for new clients;
search for local peers, control the speed;
support for UDP trackers;
enable scrape requests;
enable peer exchange (this is how they are usually enabled by default, but just in case ...).

Fig. 1. Basic BitTorrent Settings

2) Next in uTorrent click "File / Create new torrent" , or the combination of buttons Ctrl + N. A window should appear, as I have in the screenshot below. When creating a torrent you need:

specify the folder (or a specific file) that you want to transfer;
in subsection "other" put only one check mark "Start seeding" (as in my example!);
in the graph "description" you can write briefly what kind of file you are going to distribute;
and press the button "Create" .

Fig. 2. Creating a torrent file

uTorrent will create a distribution and offer you to save a small file of 1-2 KB (the same one that you download from torrent trackers when you want to download a file).

Now it is enough to transfer this file in 1-2 KB to another computer (to the one that wants to download your folder / file), and open this file on his PC in uTorrent and start downloading.

Fig. 3. Transfer the file in 1-2 Kb to download the torrent

Instead of transferring a file, you can generally transfer a regular link.

To do this, right-click on your created torrent and select "Copy Magnet URL" ... Then drop this magnetic link into the chat (VK, OK, Skype, etc.), and the one who wants to download your files in this torrent does it calmly ...

Fig. 4. Instead of a file, you can send a magnetic link

3) By the way, if anyone does not know how to open the magnet link: in uTorrent, click "File / add torrent from URL" - then enter the link (which you copied just above in the article). Everything!

Fig. 5. Add torrent and download data

About download speed ...

When downloading / distributing large folders / files, the speed often jumps: sometimes low, then high. I recommend for the time of file transfer: do not download anything extraneous from other sites (this way you clog the channel).

In addition, many Internet providers have options to increase the speed of the channel for a while (such as turbo speed), take a look, if possible - turn it on!

👉 To help!

You can also read another article of mine about the reasons for slow torrent downloads in uTorrent

👉 By the way!

Instead of uTorrent, you can use StrongDC. Working with it is built in a slightly different way:

first you will need to connect to some server (from both PCs);
after, on one of them, share the folder (file);
and download it from another PC.

How this is done is described in this note!

Method number 2: using Skype, ICQ, e-mail (for relatively small files)

To transfer relatively small files (well, for example, a hundred or two megabytes of data), tinkering with uTorrent is not always convenient (especially if you don't use it all the time).

Much more correct in this case is to simply transfer data via Skype or ICQ (for example).

Advantages on the face: it's fast, no need to mess around with extra. programs, acceptable speed. To transfer a file in Skype, for example, just right-click on the nickname (the name of your interlocutor), and this option will appear in the menu (see Fig. 6).

👉 By the way!

I recommended Skype and ICQ in the article about the most necessary programs after installing Windows (there are more interesting recommendations in the article)

Fig. 6.Skype transfer file

You can also send the file by email. For example, Yahoo has a mailbox size of 1 TB! There you can load a whole small hard drive!

👉 To help!

Not sure where to get your email? I will also give you a hint, and where to find a short, beautiful e-mail address.

Fig. 7. Yahoo Mail

👉 Recommendation!

By the way, if you have a lot of small files in the transferred folder, I recommend it compress to archive.

Firstly, the file in the archive weighs less (the files will be compressed), which means that it will be transferred faster; secondly, the archive can be encrypted and a password can be set so that no one can open it (if suddenly someone else downloads the archive).

Method number 3: using programs for remote access

There is a separate series of programs (AnyDesk, TeamViewer, etc.) that allow you to connect to the desktop of another computer via the Internet and control it. Of course, in this way you can also share files (moreover, it is not more difficult than working in the explorer).

How it looks in practice is shown in a couple of screenshots below. Please note that working remotely with another PC is no more difficult than working with your own! 👌

👉 To help!

How to set up remote access: connect to the desktop, transfer files and control the computer over the Internet.

"Alien" desktop ...

Now we can control this PC remotely ...

Form for downloading and uploading a file to a remote PC / AnyDesk

Method number 4: using file sharing and cloud drives

Recently, various cloud drives have become increasingly popular. Those. you register with the service, and you are given, say, a 10 GB disk on which you can store any files.

And, among other things, give download links to other people (they may not necessarily download them to themselves - they can also save them to their cloud drive).

The main advantages of this method:

firstly, computers do not have to be kept on at the same time (i.e. everyone downloads / downloads when it is convenient for him);
second, the files are stored securely (even more reliable than on your hard drive);
thirdly, you can access them from any PC or smartphone connected to the Internet;
fourthly, many files can be viewed (or even edited) directly in the cloud drive without downloading to your PC.

I will propose below are some interesting services.

👉 By the way!

1) I talked about a cloud drive, how to create it and how to connect it in this article.

2) If you do not have enough space on the cloud disk to transfer the file, then it can be split into several pieces (parts) and transfer them one by one.

❶

Yandex disk

Disk from the most famous search engine. After registering and downloading the mobile application, the disk size will be about 50 GB (at least, such advertising has been going on for a long time, see Fig. 8 below)! I think more than enough for many users.

In the arsenal of Yandex Disk there are tools for viewing and editing Word documents, Excel, photos, and even video files. Through the disk, you can transfer files from your smartphone to a PC in two clicks. In general, a very handy thing, I recommend it for review ...

Fig. 8. Yandex disk

❷

Disk from Mail.ru

In terms of its tools and capabilities, it is very similar to Yandex disk: there is also a photo editor, viewing tables, MS Office documents, viewing video files, etc.

After registration, today they give 8 GB, but there are often promotions, and it is quite possible to expand the space by several dozen GB more. For a small fee, the disk can be expanded by several hundred GB (which is not an option if you often need to transfer large amounts of information).

Fig. 9. Cloud from Mail.Ru

❸

Google drive

After registration, about 15 GB will be available (for several hundred rubles a month it can be increased to 1 TB). It's also easy to use - I don't even see the point of showing how to upload / transfer a file through this service.

In general, the capabilities roughly coincide with the previous services of Yandex-disk or the Mail.ru cloud (therefore, there is nothing special to add to the description ☺).