My editor is moving from Los Angeles (where I live) to Canada. Is there a common, reliable, cheap way for me to supply large video files (up to 10 GB) to him? I don't have much of a budget, and I have just a standard DSL internet connection.
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This is a common problem for video producers. Google Drive doesn't reliably zip and unzip large video folders when downloading. Dropbox has the same issues. Is there a service which reliably re-downloads files which have corrupted, and ensures all the files end up on the remote server without requiring constant checking and/or server management skills?– tomhJul 6, 2021 at 9:24
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2 Answers
Fedex has the highest bandwidth around... Mailing laptop hard drives, SSDs or USB sticks is probably your best bet and may well be cheaper than upgrading your Internet upload capabilities.
Alternately, if you need a way to handle it over the Internet, I'd actually recommend getting a virtual private server. You might be able to find a file sharing service that will fit your needs, but often for larger files, it may actually be cheaper to run your own server. Running your own server also allows for uploading in chunks.
When I need to transfer multiple gigabytes of data over my Internet connection, I use Total Commander (my file manager of choice) to split the large files in to multiple pieces (normally around 100MB each) and then upload them via FTP to my server. Once they are up there, I re-combine the files in to their original form and run an MD5 verification of the file integrity. Then, it is easy for someone to quickly download the files.
I've used this for transferring 10 to 20GB of files at a time to people and it took a number of hours to upload even over my 5mbps Internet connection, but if you give it enough time, it is a viable option at lower speed connections as well (as long as your ISP doesn't cap you). You might want to use smaller file sizes though as my experience is that slower connections are more likely to corrupt a file and smaller file splits means less needs to be uploaded again if there is a failure.
answered Nov 3, 2014 at 18:03
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Thanks AJ. I've been thinking about that option too, but it looks like more than I want to pay. The quick quote I got was over $40; seems like sending a USB flash drive should be cheaper than that. (Still gave you an upvote!) Nov 3, 2014 at 18:26
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@BrettFromLA - added some details for what I do for Internet based transfer as well since $40 a USB stick is probably enough to make faster Internet and/or a server worth it if it will be regular transfers.– AJ Henderson ♦Nov 3, 2014 at 19:01
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Thanks a lot for the info, AJ! I'm starting to think that I'll just find another editor!!! (I'm in Los Angeles. Should be easy.) Nov 3, 2014 at 19:06
I recently read about MASV on TechRadar, it's a file transfer service that charges 25¢ per gig that is downloaded. If you're only sending 10GB at a time, this is much more cost-effective than mailing (in 2021 Fedex is charging $60+ to overnight an envelope from LA to NYC and even more to Canada).
MASV is currently offering a 7day/100GB free trial.
