Sending large files

You've got a big file that you want to send to a colleague, so as you always do, you attach the file to an email and send it off. Unusually, you get a message back saying something about the email being too big. Now what?

Email was never originally designed to transfer documents around, just text. Some time after it was introduced, it was extended to accomodate documents, but no one at that time could even imagine documents that are as big as what we have these days, with high-resolution photographs and movies. Safety measures had to be put in place to stop people from sending huge files around, taking up too much space and processing power on email servers.

Because email servers weren't designed to do what we're trying to make them do, they're not doing a great job with files. So clever humans got together and figured out some workarounds. This article looks at the different kinds of workarounds exist, so you'd be able to pick the one that works the best for your situation.

Don't worry, they're all pretty simple, and some of them bring along some interesting side-benefits too.

Instant messaging, with bonus file transfer

Benefits	Drawbacks
Always-on instant chat Relatively fast file transfer	May be incompatible with some office networks Both participants have to sign up to the same instant message network

Many instant-messaging programs (like MSN or Google Talk) also include a way to send files around. Similarly, Skype, which is primarily focussed around audio and video chat, includes text chat and file transfer capabilities. There are dozens of different chat networks running, and they generally can't communicate with one another. For example, if you're on MSN, you're generally not able to communicate with someone on AIM.

This means that both the sender and receiver have to sign up to these services. Happily though, they're mostly free. Skype, for example, allows free chat and calls between Skype users. They only charge when you want to place a phone call out to the regular phone network.

Some instant message systems don't work too well through some office or education networks. Due to misuse and paranoia, these communication channels are sometimes blocked by IT departments - and if either side is blocked, the file transfer will fail.

Because it involves a software install, instant messaging programs can also be a bit difficult to get installed and running.

But! Once you've set it all up, you're able to communicate with that person whenever you want. Some people keep several chat windows open all day, and type in them periodically. It's like working with other people around a table - you can call on them for help, or help them with something they need. Even if you only have short conversations, the ease and directness of this kind of communication increases efficiencies and brings organisations together.

For detailed information on chat systems, please have a look at our chat programs article.

First-generation web sites

Benefits	Drawbacks
No setup required Relatively fast and easy Both participants don't have to be online at the same time	Potentially very unsafe

Sending large documents isn't a new problem, and there are hundreds of web sites that try to help you do this. The website basically inserts itself into the middle of the procedure, so the sender and recipient meet halfway. It's like leaving a large package in a bus locker, then sending the key and directions to the locker.

The sender sends the file to the website, and gives them a unique link that will download that file from the site. The sender sends the link to the file (not the file itself) to the recipient, who clicks it and downloads the file.

The big caveat here is the safety factor. Just like leaving a package in an unlocked train station locker, anyone could come along and take it. Also, you're placing your trust in a third-party website that you have no information about. Encrypting the document before sending it to the website is highly recommended.

Second-generation web sites

Benefits	Drawbacks
Get bonus "cloud storage" along with the file transfer service Version control for documents Once set up, very easy to designate a shared folder	Could be too large and unruly a solution for simply transferring a file

A few websites have taken this idea of keeping files stored in the Internet to the next logical step: what if it could be treated just like a disk, with folders to organise documents, and a way to access the disk from various places around the world?

Dropbox is a good example of this. With a free account, you can upload files to the website, and designate certain ones to be "shared" with other people, but it is basically a collection of your documents that you can access through the website.

Where it gets interesting is this: There are programs available for desktop computers and app phones that allow you to access your files as if they were local to your computer. The files show up in a folder, just like all of the other files on your computer - but they're on the Internet, and any changes you make to them on your computer or app phone are saved onto the Internet. Magic.

So if you designate a folder to be "shared" with a colleague, and they save a version of it back into that folder, you'll see the changes on your computer a few minutes later. Automatically. Don't worry though - they keep backups of each document, so you can always roll back the changes, or see what was done.

Other interesting options

We're getting farther away from the main point of "sending documents to other people", but here's some other ideas that solve a few other problems, along with sending files to others. If you can solve a few problems with one solution, or use that one solution to build capacity in another area, you're ahead of the game already.

Pogoplug is a small device that allows you to share the contents of external hard drives on the Internet. This is very powerful in a number of different ways:

Because all it needs is an Internet connection, you can use Pogoplug to be your offsite backup drive. Copy all the files from your computers to the Pogoplug every so often, so that you don't have to physically bring a hard drive offsite every day. If you have two Pogoplugs, you can configure them to automatically back each other up: use one in your office as a file server, and put another one somewhere else, and it can automatically back your documents up.
If you or your co-workers are out of the office a lot, and still need access to files, Pogoplug is a good solution for that. Through the use of magic, it makes your documents available anywhere there's an Internet connection. When you're out of the office, you can connect to the Internet and get access to your files. There's also an app that works on iPhones and iPads.
You can designate some folders as being "shared", so that specified users (or even the general public) can have access to the documents in those folders. Anything you place in those folders will be shared - which solves the "sharing documents" problem we started out with, but this solution gives you a lot more.

A more technical solution would be creating a "public" folder on your website. You might need some help to set it up, but if you have a website already, you might be able to use a section of the site to put downloadable files.

There are a multitude of ways to do this, from the basic to the complex, and it really depends on what kind of access you have to your website, and what kind of technology is being used to run the website. If you have access to the website through something called FTP, you should be able to create a new folder within the website (call it "public" or similar), and place files you wish to share in there. It's important to note that this method isn't at all secure, as anyone with the ability to look at the site (including the Google search engine) may have access to the site. At the very least, try to make sure you delete the files soon after they're picked up by the receiver.

Doing IT Better is a social justice initiative of the Centre for Community Networking Research (Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University) and the Victorian Council of Social Service, generously funded by a foundation.