Hey mac geeks hers my problem;

I have a large batch of files (thousands) that I’m trying to send to my friend who lives across the country. The total GB size of the files is about 25GB. Now my final goal is to get all the files to him over the internet.

now i cant just open msn or skype and drop the 25GB of files to him all at once because we both have laptops and need to move around every day because of our jobs. however if i could sparse the files into small 1-2GB zip files i could just send him one chunk every night. how do I select a large batch of files and make it compress and divide into 2GB chunks? do I need a special app?

Also there is the possibility that I’m going about this the entirely wrong way. maybe a P2P program would be more efficient because neither of us would need to initiate the transfers as long as the P2P client was running. in that case is there a P2P program that enables me to ONLY let my friend download? or would I be putting all the files in the open for the world to take?

-thanks for your help in advance.

Ps. I own a mac and he owns a windows XP machine.

You could use Vuze (p2p) and set the protocol to private.  With Vuze you can set the maximum transmission speed so as to not risk a thrashing from your ISP or other people on your network.

Or you could burn a bunch of DVD’s.

You can use a program like Split & Concat to split the files into smaller chunks, which can then be merged back together into a single file. Look up programs that create .rar files, and with that many files I would also advise using .par2 to build in some safety for dropped packets/lost data.

At that point you could use any number of services like rapidshare or megashare (there are loads, some charge for larger uploads, some don’t).

Try http://www.swapitencryptit.com
It’s the fast and cheapest way to send large files. They offer a no membership based service. Basically you pay for the file size(s) you need to send and nothing more. You can use Swap it! Encrypt it! to send files fast between computers or mobile (iPhone, BlackBerry etc…) devices (you can even send files directly from your mobile device). They have a free service too called Swap it! Encrypt it! Lite.

I hope this helped a little, I know it’s a real pain in the ass when you have to pay a ton to move lots of files.

No matter your internet based solution; wouldn’t it be faster (maybe even cheaper) to burn the files to DVDs and mail them?

No, no it wouldn’t be cheaper or faster at all to burn and then mail a dvd.
It takes a long time to burn large amounts of information and even longer for that dvd to arrive via the mail, and if for some reason you only have to burn a small amount of information to that disk you end up wasting the rest of that disk space. When you use solutions other then an internet based file transfer companies you’re paying more and wasting lots of materials that should have never been wasted.

I can give you an example if you like:

1. Buy dvd = $1.50
2. Burn 180 MB to that disk (takes 30 minutes and leaves 820 MB of wasted space)
3. Pay to wrap the dvd safely = $1.00
4. Pay to mail the dvd = $2.00

All of the above = (around) $4.50

Or you could use a site like http://www.swapitencryptit.com pay .99 cents to send the file
and end up saving yourself time, money and the planet it’s wasted resources.

I hope this helped!!!

PS. It takes several days for the mail to arrive, it only take a few hours for a file to arrive
electronically.

DrShakagee - 16 April 2009 01:24 PM

No matter your internet based solution; wouldn’t it be faster (maybe even cheaper) to burn the files to DVDs and mail them?

BillySmokes - 16 April 2009 01:38 PM

No, no it wouldn’t be cheaper or faster at all to burn and then mail a dvd.
It takes a long time to burn large amounts of information and even longer for that dvd to arrive via the mail, and if for some reason you only have to burn a small amount of information to that disk you end up wasting the rest of that disk space. When you use solutions other then an internet based file transfer companies you’re paying more and wasting lots of materials that should have never been wasted.

I can give you an example if you like:

1. Buy dvd = $1.50
2. Burn 180 MB to that disk (takes 30 minutes and leaves 820 MB of wasted space)
3. Pay to wrap the dvd safely = $1.00
4. Pay to mail the dvd = $2.00

All of the above = (around) $4.50

Or you could use a site like http://www.swapitencryptit.com pay .99 cents to send the file
and end up saving yourself time, money and the planet it’s wasted resources.

I hope this helped!!!

PS. It takes several days for the mail to arrive, it only take a few hours for a file to arrive
electronically.

DrShakagee - 16 April 2009 01:24 PM

No matter your internet based solution; wouldn’t it be faster (maybe even cheaper) to burn the files to DVDs and mail them?

I would have to agree with you if it was indeed 180 MB but for 25 GB I have to whole heartedly disagree. Not only is the chance of corruption greatly increased, but the time spent uploading and downloading would be enormous.

Not sure what kind of DVD’s your buying for $1.50 but I buy them in packs of 100 for $25, so about 25¢ each.

So I figure:

1. Buy dvd = $0.25x5-6 so about $1.25 - $1.50
2. Burn 25 GB to 5-6 disks (takes 45 minutes each)
3. Pay to wrap the dvds safely = $1.00
4. Pay to mail the dvds = $2.00

All of the above = (around) $4.50

Or you could use a site like http://www.swapitencryptit.com pay $25 to send the files
and end up wasting time, and money.

I don’t agree with most of what you just said.

1. When you get dvds 100 for $25 more then 50 % of them don’t work!
2. If you’re mailing 5 or more dvd’s it’s going to cost a lot more then $2.00 to mail them (lol)
3. There are ways to move large amounts of information with out corruption (or losing you upload connection).
4. Some internet file transfer company’s (like Swap it! Encrypt it! and Mail Big File) offer amazingly fast download and upload speeds(Swap it! Encrypt it! being the fastest).

What I do agree with.

1. Even though Swap it! encrypt it! is the fastest site I’ve come across, it may take longer
to upload the files then it would to burn them.

There are two ways to deal with the corruption of data (if that truly worries you).

One way would be to break the information down into smaller sizes (using a free file compression program, like WINRar) and then sending that information in 2 gig chunks through a service like http://www.swapitencryptit.com

The second way you could send that information easily would be to use a internet file transfer desktop program. These types of programs allow users to move huge amounts of information, for even less money, then if you pay by the file. Most desktop file transfer services offer resumable up loads and downloads, so you never end up with corrupt data.

PS>>> I’ve downloaded a 1 gig file through Swap it! Encrypt it! in about 10 minutes (I know it takes longer through http://www.yousendit.com) so that greatly reduced some of my time when uploading and down loading information.

PPS >>> Quality Dvd’s cost 14.99 for 25 (and almost every one will burn)

PPPS >>>Swap it! Encrypt it! does give you a few chances to upload your file when a connection is broken. Which is pretty cool, especially when their terms of service states they don’t have too.
 

DrShakagee - 16 April 2009 03:12 PM

BillySmokes - 16 April 2009 01:38 PM

No, no it wouldn’t be cheaper or faster at all to burn and then mail a dvd.
It takes a long time to burn large amounts of information and even longer for that dvd to arrive via the mail, and if for some reason you only have to burn a small amount of information to that disk you end up wasting the rest of that disk space. When you use solutions other then an internet based file transfer companies you’re paying more and wasting lots of materials that should have never been wasted.

I can give you an example if you like:

1. Buy dvd = $1.50
2. Burn 180 MB to that disk (takes 30 minutes and leaves 820 MB of wasted space)
3. Pay to wrap the dvd safely = $1.00
4. Pay to mail the dvd = $2.00

All of the above = (around) $4.50

Or you could use a site like http://www.swapitencryptit.com pay .99 cents to send the file
and end up saving yourself time, money and the planet it’s wasted resources.

I hope this helped!!!

PS. It takes several days for the mail to arrive, it only take a few hours for a file to arrive
electronically.

DrShakagee - 16 April 2009 01:24 PM

No matter your internet based solution; wouldn’t it be faster (maybe even cheaper) to burn the files to DVDs and mail them?

I would have to agree with you if it was indeed 180 MB but for 25 GB I have to whole heartedly disagree. Not only is the chance of corruption greatly increased, but the time spent uploading and downloading would be enormous.

Not sure what kind of DVD’s your buying for $1.50 but I buy them in packs of 100 for $25, so about 25¢ each.

So I figure:

1. Buy dvd = $0.25x5-6 so about $1.25 - $1.50
2. Burn 25 GB to 5-6 disks (takes 45 minutes each)
3. Pay to wrap the dvds safely = $1.00
4. Pay to mail the dvds = $2.00

All of the above = (around) $4.50

Or you could use a site like http://www.swapitencryptit.com pay $25 to send the files
and end up wasting time, and money.

Thanks for the tip! http://www.swapitencryptit.com works well. I’ve been sending files all day!
It actaully let me send files from my BlackBerry, so that means no more paying Rogers
to send photo’s I take on my phone.

BillySmokes - 14 April 2009 09:28 PM

Try http://www.swapitencryptit.com
It’s the fast and cheapest way to send large files. They offer a no membership based service. Basically you pay for the file size(s) you need to send and nothing more. You can use Swap it! Encrypt it! to send files fast between computers or mobile (iPhone, BlackBerry etc…) devices (you can even send files directly from your mobile device). They have a free service too called Swap it! Encrypt it! Lite.

I hope this helped a little, I know it’s a real pain in the ass when you have to pay a ton to move lots of files.

SilmJim - 16 April 2009 07:16 PM

Thanks for the tip! http://www.swapitencryptit.com works well. I’ve been sending files all day!
It actaully let me send files from my BlackBerry, so that means no more paying Rogers
to send photo’s I take on my phone.

BillySmokes - 14 April 2009 09:28 PM

Try http://www.swapitencryptit.com
It’s the fast and cheapest way to send large files. They offer a no membership based service. Basically you pay for the file size(s) you need to send and nothing more. You can use Swap it! Encrypt it! to send files fast between computers or mobile (iPhone, BlackBerry etc…) devices (you can even send files directly from your mobile device). They have a free service too called Swap it! Encrypt it! Lite.

I hope this helped a little, I know it’s a real pain in the ass when you have to pay a ton to move lots of files.

Considering you and BillySmokes have the exact same IP address, you don’t have much credibility. In fact, that pretty much ruins BilySmokes’ credibility, and perhaps swapitencryptit also.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaa.

Oh, man, I larfed and larfed.