I remember using AIM (AOL (America Online) Instant Messenger) and other instant messaging applications for direct peer-to-peer file transfer back in 2002. On fast university connections, you could transfer movies in a few minutes. It's crazy to me that direct, fast file sharing was easier and more ubiquitous almost 20 years ago than it seems to be now. More context for my oft-misunderstood early feedback to dhouston about Dropbox.
Ask HN: What is your favorite method of sending large files?
151–160 of 363 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite method of sending large files?
#152Physical media for anything over a few gigs. It's just easier, especially if the recipient isn't technologically inclined. A lot of the media industry ships hard drives around to one another because content can be so massive.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite method of sending large files?
#153Bittorrent. No, really. Lots of nice behaviors when transferring large amounts of data between arbitrary endpoints. Transferring the torrent metadata is pretty trivial and can be done via a wide range of methods, and having that flexibility can be nice. Unlike HTTP, you get reasonable retry behavior on network hiccups. Also, more robust data integrity guarantees, though a manual hash test is probably a good idea eith…
Can you recommend easy software to do the creation? Don't you need a tracker as well?
There's tons of available trackers. Just use whatever one you want. Also most clients can create torrents.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite method of sending large files?
#154Maybe I’m old, but physically. Most of my large transfers are photographs, video and audio recordings and I like flash drives.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite method of sending large files?
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sometimes I wonder if the bad connotation due to piracy made this protocol not standard (in a sense, that's not widely adopted, and people need dedicated clients, instead of it working for example in browsers). I don't know enough, maybe it has security issues, or some limits... but the fact is that it's still widely used, by tech literate people, so it still stands the test of time and it must be doing something rig…
> people need dedicated clients, instead of it working for example in browsers "Version 9.0 [...], released on June 20, 2006" "Opera introduced [...] a built-in BitTorrent client" [1] That's history now, of course, courtesy of today's browser monoculture. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Opera_web_brows...
Does Firefox have an extension to download torernts?
I know it used to have one, but that now that I'm aware of the v57+ extension issue, I notice that the one linked to first in a search seems to be dead.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite method of sending large files?
#156Bittorrent. No, really. Lots of nice behaviors when transferring large amounts of data between arbitrary endpoints. Transferring the torrent metadata is pretty trivial and can be done via a wide range of methods, and having that flexibility can be nice. Unlike HTTP, you get reasonable retry behavior on network hiccups. Also, more robust data integrity guarantees, though a manual hash test is probably a good idea eith…
BitTorrent is the best for sending large files. I wish there existed a tool to make torrent creation easier, and I also wish my computer could seed. Every time I create a torrent, nobody can discover my server, even though the port is open and even if I add the server IP as a peer directly onto the client.
I have no trouble seeding in swarms, only when I create torrents. Other than that, BT is ideal.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite method of sending large files?
#157Private Nextcloud. Or some free tier OneDrive/alternative is enought for me. However no-one mentioned a super simple service: https://wetransfer.com/ - Simple as drag & drop, enter recipient address, SEND. Pretty simple if you want non techie to send you something.
Wetransfer is brilliant. I’ve used their white label option in the past to transfer files to customers and allow them to send in files. It’s ace.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite method of sending large files?
#158You can create a simple python http server to expose files in a directory to the local web: $ python -m http.server 8000 and then you can start ngrok to expose the file $ ngrok http 8000 that will give you an URL to share with whoever wants it.
Does ngrok limit data at all or just connections?
Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite method of sending large files?
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
10TB, local or Internet: Physical Hard Drive. Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of backup tapes! In Poland there is an option to send package via train for 8$. Just go to station and give package to conductor/train guard, few hours later receiver can get it at destination station. Sending HDDs full of raw video footage this way is very popular among video editors here.
That’s a really cool idea actually
Same thing happens in Greece with buses. It's a very popular way for moms to send home-made food to their single/university student sons.