All it takes is to write a new email, attach the files that need to be shared and add the contacts that should receive it.

Email does have a disadvantage though, a size limit makes it virtually impossible to send very large files. Most providers reject emails that cross the 20-25 MB line. You might want to consider splitting up the files to stay below that limit but it does mean additional work, and there are better options, especially if files need to be send regularly.

Now that we have established that email is not ideal for sending large files we can take a look at other options.

File hosting services come to mind immediately. Hundreds, if not thousands, of file hosting sites compete with each other on the Internet. They allow Internet users to upload files to their servers. The file urls can then be shared with other users. The process is slightly more complicated than sending files per email, as it requires some sort of communication so that the recipient gets the file hosting url to download the files.

There are also specialized file hosting sites, Flickr for instance for hosting photos comes to mind, or Youtube for videos. Those sites offer privacy features to only share files with specific users.

File Hosting Services to Send Large Files

Media Fire – One of the best file sharing services on the Internet. Free users can upload an unlimited number of files, with each file up to 200 Megabytes in size. Downloads are unlimited as well. File urls can easily be shared by email, Instant Messenger or embedded on websites.

mediafire

Transfer Big Files – File size limit of 100 Megabyte without account, can be downloaded 20 times, urls are send to a recipients email address. Uses HTTPS for website and all transfers.

transfer big files

Drop Send – Has a file size limit of 2 Gigabytes and 5 sends per month, transfers seem to be limited in speed compared to the paid accounts offered.

send large files

Send 6 – Another file hosting service that offers to send up to 250 Megabytes without registration. Has an individual file size limit of 250 Megabytes, maximum of 5 downloads per files.

send 6

File Droper – a very simply uploading site with a maximum file size of 5 Gigabytes. Uploaded file urls need to be shared manually though.

file dropper

Windows Live SkyDrive – requires a Windows Live account but is good for sharing up to 25 Gigabytes of data, individual file size limit is 50 Megabytes.

windows live skydrive

Other options (selection)

• Drop.io
• Rapidshare
• Box.net
• Wikisend
• Driveway

The file hosting sites above are just examples, you can easily find more hosting sites by searching for terms like “send large files”, “file hosting” or “file hosts”.

Desktop Clients for big file transfers

File hosting sites offer an uncomplicated way of sending files to other people. Most do however limit the maximum file size, download speeds or number of transfers to upsell premium accounts.

Desktop file sending clients are a great alternative.

Opera Unite – The Opera web browser comes with a feature called Opera Unite. It basically provides web server capabilities directly in the browser. Several applications are available that can be installed including a file sharing app.

Here is how it works. Visit the Opera Unite website above in Opera and install the File Sharing application in Opera. You need to create an account at Opera if this is your first time.

A folder can be picked that is then shared on the Internet whenever Opera Unite is running. The url of the folder can be send to friends via email or other means. Friends open the url in the web browser and see the directory structure and files of the selected folders. Folders are password protected for extra security. Available for Mac, Windows and Linux.

opera unite file sharing

Dropbox – A free Dropbox account has a 2 Gigabyte space limit, which should be fine for most file sending operations. A Dropbox client is installed on the computer system. Files that need to be send to other users can be put into a Dropbox folder to make them available online. Folders can be shared easily by sending invitations to email addresses.

Dropbox is also available for Linux, Mac and Windows. An account is required to share files.

dropbox

HTTP File Server – this program offers a similar approach as Opera Unite. It installs a file server on the system that can be used to share files with other users. Highly configurable.

http file server

Other options

• Gigatribe
• CC File Transfer
• Pando

A third option are Instant Messengers and other communication programs like Skype which often come with basic file sharing options. They are a good option to send medium sized files directly to other users, probably the best choice if both users already have an account.

We did not mention ftp servers which are an option as well. The problem with ftp servers is that they are not that easy to configure and setup. Users who want to delve deeper into this can take a look at the excellent Filezilla Server, which is available for Windows only.

Users who live close to each other have the option to burn the files to DVD or copy them on a USB drive or stick to hand them over in person to the other user.

How do you share and send large files? Let us know in the comments.

Most do not offer unlimited bandwidth and those that do usually last not very long unless they add restrictions to their file hosting service. Save As is a new promising file hosting service that offers a simple interface and simple rules.

Everyone is allowed to upload files of any size. The process takes only a few seconds to initialize. All that needs to be done is to click on the select file button to open the file browser. Only one file can be selected and it might be a good idea to zip multiple files to upload them as an archive all at once.

A results page is displayed after the upload has finished. This page displays a direct link to the download, a link using the short url service bitly and several statistics about the upload.

The links pointing to the file are good for 24 hours. The file will be automatically deleted from the Save As servers after that time. There do not seem to be any download or user restrictions in that time period however.

One way of accessing files is to use an online clipboard like CL1P. This website allows you to put up data using a unique url that you yourself choose. No sign-up or registration required.

Once the CL1P url is ready, you have plenty of options. The first thing you can do is set the clipboard to take plain or rich text formats. Alternatively, you could turn it into a messageboard. After that, you can either type in your data, or upload files and pictures. The maximum upload limit is 30 MB.

Once your clipboard is ready, simply save it. CL1P has the option of password protecting your page, which comes in handy if you want only select people to be able to view your link. CL1P pages stay active only for seven days which is a slight disadvantage if you want to keep your page around longer.

CL1P is fairly versatile. For example, a user can edit his clipboard if he wants to. Another plus point is the ability to print the clipboards. While this may not be helpful if you’ve uploaded something that cannot be printed, it’s worthwhile for text and images.

Are you comfortable with the idea of an internet clipboard? Would you use CL1P? Let me know in the comments.

That’s not all however but it should give an example how easy it is to make files available online with HTTP File Server which was already reviewed about two years ago for the first time here at Ghacks. A lot has changed in the last two years.

The folders and files that get picked by the user are available immediately online. It’s probably a good idea to test the server locally and remotely before giving the remote IP to someone else. It might on the other hand not be necessary to hand out the remote IP if files should only be accessible by yourself.

The file server comes with a basic music player that can stream and play music directly without downloading the music first. Everything else is downloaded before it can be accessed.

Many possibilities to secure and restrict access can be configured in HTTP File Server. The system administrator can create user accounts and define files or folders that are restricted to those users. Additional possibilities include speed limits or restrictions by IP.

The file server supports real and virtual folders and can be configured to allow file uploads as well.

The main advantage of HTTP File Server is the ease of use and the portability of the application. The main site contains the latest release version of the server software, the forums provide access to the latest beta releases which provide additional functionality and bugfixes.

Uploading files to many sites is a tedious task. You’ll have to visit each site and individually upload your file there. This is a time-consuming and irritating task. It would be so much better for you to upload the file once and watch it show up on multiple sites.

Well, that’s exactly what Uploadjockey does. This site allows you to upload a file once and then they put that file on other hosting sites. Uploadjockey will put your file on Rapidshare, Badongo, Megaupload, Zshare, Sendspace, and Depositfiles.

This is quite a good concept. Many file hosting sites have limitations like waiting time between downloads, slots per country, etc. This way, if you don’t get the file off one site, you can try another one. For the uploader, all you have to do is upload the file once.

The site isn’t perfect. For starters, you have the 100 MB file limit. But I think this has more to do with the fact that the sites it supports have a file size limit. Also, while uploading a file, there is no way to tell how fast you are uploading. A progress bar does appear but there’s no mention of speed or how much of the file has been uploaded so far.

I don’t know why someone would want to host files on Rapidshare, Megaupload, etc. that have so many restrictions. I usually prefer to use MediaFire, which I feel is far better. But who knows, the service may add other sites in future.

What do you think of Uploadjockey? Would you use this service? Have you come across something similar? What’s your favorite file-hosting site? Let me know in the comments.

Update: The file upload service does not seem to exist anymore. Check out Neembu Uploader, File Upload Tool To Upload Files To Multiple File Hosters or Multi Uni Uploader, Upload Files To File Hosters for two software alternatives or Mirror Creator for an online service that supports spreading a file to multiple file hosts.

The free version makes it possible to share files of up to 1 gigabyte in size. Pando offers commercial upgrades for file sizes of up to 50 gigabytes. The Pando client can be downloaded for Windows and Macintosh while Linux users will have to use a Pando beta client that was only mentioned in the forums.

Packages expire after a certain period of time with no downloads. That time is seven days for email / im packages in the free version and unlimited for the biggest commercial version

Integrating Pando downloads in your websites is another great feature. Users can click on a Pando link and download it using the Pando client. The only drawback of this method is that those downloads expire after 30 days of inactivity. Only the Publisher package, the biggest commercial package keeps the files for an unlimited time on their servers.

Here is a short list of the differences of the free and commercial versions of Pando:

• Free (max file size 1 gigabyte, expires after 7 days [email / im] and 30 days [webdownloads]
• Pando Plus (max file size 3 gigabytes, expires after 30 days [email / im / webdownloads, $4.95 per month, $49,95 per year)
• Pando Pro (max file size 5 gigabytes, expires after 30 days [email / im / webdownloads], faster downloads for recipients, $19.95 per month, $199,95 per year)
• Pando Publisher (max file size 50 gigabytes, never expires fastest downloads for recipients, $49.95 per month, $499,95 per year)