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I need to transfer a couple of 20 GB files over the internet. There is exactly one sender and one receiver.

I would like a tool that can not only send this direct, without uploading it anywhere first, but also verify the file by parts and re-download only the corrupt parts like BitTorrent does (which also implies resumability since this will take a couple of weeks).

Can someone recommend a tool capable of this?

Edit Forgot to mention: the sender has no open incoming ports, so can't accept connections.

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That edit complicates things, in which case you may have to use the VNC method @Paul outlined below, initiated from the sender's PC. – Randolph West Jan 25 '11 at 0:34
I answered before your edit. Do you mean there are no other open ports other than Port 80 (HTTP)? Or there are no open ports period, no internet connection, etc.? In which case this is obviously impossible and I'm hoping you mean that only Port 80 is unblocked, in which case my solution may cause issues as you need a port other than 80 to be open. – Paul Jan 25 '11 at 0:40
@Paul your solution is fine, I will give it a go. The sender can't accept incoming connections, but it can of course initiate outgoing ones. – romkyns Jan 25 '11 at 0:41

5 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

The easiest way I know to do this is ultraVNC.

Ultr@VNC features an embedded File Transfer with intuitive Graphical User Interface allowing for easy file copy between local and remote computers.

  • Compression: Files are compressed on the fly during transfers, ensuring optimal bandwidth utilization
  • Resume: Interrupted transfers can be resumed, thus only the missing parts of the files are resent
  • Delta Transfer: only the changed parts of the files are resent
  • Transfers are asynchronous if wanted:
    • When the File transfer GUI Window is visible there are no screen updates, so the speed for file transfers is max.
    • When File transfer GUI Window is minimized screen updates and file transfers occur in parallel.
  • Display of progress percentage during transfers
  • Directory Transfer
  • Uses the current Ultr@VNC connection
  • Optional User Impersonation option, limiting remote file system access to identified Windows ™ users only
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up vote 2 down vote

If you can split the 20 GB file into smaller chunks (e.g. by using WinRAR split volumes), you can upload them using box-standard FTP or similar; the smaller you make the chunks, the less data will need to be retransmitted if any one of them breaks (which you can check using WinRAR’s “test” command).

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up vote 1 down vote

It'd be faster to send a hard drive via UPS or FedEx. You could even abuse a retail store's return policy if you really needed to, though I don't recommend doing that.

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up vote 0 down vote

Wouldn't BitTorrent actually be the appropriate choice in this situation? As long as YOU have open outgoing ports, he should be able to connect to you and receive data.

Just grab a BitTorrent client (I recommend Transmission, though on Windows you'll need something different), use it to generate a .torrent file for the files you want to transfer, and aim it at the OpenBitTorrent tracker. Make sure your ports are open, email the .torrent file to your friend and then wait 4-6 weeks for delivery.

I was under the impression that the reason open ports are usually required for BitTorrent was that in order to acquire lots of download streams from the tracker, you need to be a good citizen and upload data as well, which requires open ports. For a private torrent with one seed and one peer this shouldn't be necessary.

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I have tried this before. BitTorrent is atrociously bad with a single seed and a single peer. It constantly drops the download, and never goes at full speed. eMule worked fine last time. It's a bit annoying to have to encrypt the file first though. – romkyns Jan 25 '11 at 1:45
up vote -2 down vote

There is another webservice matching to your needs, www.click2copy.com There is no upload, no file size restrictions and it supports resuming(see FAQ).

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Thanks, but I think you missed the "also verify the file by parts and re-download only the corrupt parts like BitTorrent does". click2copy doesn't appear to do that. – romkyns Jan 31 '11 at 23:48
Well, I don't think I missed that. 1. As the file will be transmitted via TCP/IP there will be no corrupt data(the protocol guarantees this). 2. If you interrupt the transfer, you can restart later and only the missing part of the file will be transmitted, i.e. it will resume from that point where the transfer got interrupted. – user59510 Feb 2 '11 at 19:05
1  
@user59510: Theoretically any stream transmitted via TCP will not be corrupt. In the real world, something happens occasionally that causes a download to be corrupt. While it's rare, it wouldn't be any fun to have that happen to a 20 GB file, unless you have the kind of bandwidth where slinging 20 GB around isn't a big deal. – afrazier Feb 9 '11 at 19:00
Well at least at the network level there won't happen such things as the protocol verifies packets through checksums and re-tranmists bad packets. If something like a disconnect happens you can use the resuming functionality. – user59510 Feb 27 '11 at 1:20

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