You’re sure to be excited to share your home video or create the ultimate mix tape with friends and family.
This can vary depending on how large and numerous files you need to attach. Gmail allows you to attach files up to 25MB to your email messages. Large files can quickly eat up your storage space, while they lurk in your Sent folder.
There are many ways to upload large files online. We’ve highlighted 12 of them, which you can find free. Premium tiers are available if you wish to pay more.
Back up your large files online with this cloud storage solution
IDrive is a cloud storage expert that offers tons of storage online at a very affordable price. 10TB starting at $3.98 is an incredible deal. The support for unlimited devices, and extensive file versioning are all available.
ExpressVPN purchases include Backblaze, which has no file size limits and comes free.
ExpressVPN TechRadar’s top VPN provider is Backblaze. They offer unlimited cloud backup for one year with an annual VPN subscription. It’s even easier to share large files online if you have already uploaded them. ” data-widget-title=”Shells.com TechRadar Exclusive” data-widget-type=”deal”>Shells.com TechRadar Exclusive
ExpressVPN is TechRadar’s top VPN provider. You can get unlimited cloud backup from Backblaze for one year by signing up for an annual VPN subscription. It’s even easier to share large files online if you have already uploaded them.
1. Use a VPN. (opens in new window)
“What?” You say. What does a VPN do to allow large files to be shared? Unbeknownst to many, some internet service providers, such as Virgin Media, use broadband traffic management to limit upload bandwidth (rather that download).
Use of a VPN such as ExpressVPN, our top choice (opens in a new tab) means that your ISP can’t determine what files you are uploading and cannot therefore – theoretically – apply traffic shaping.
Peer-to-peer (peer to peer) is one of the most reliable and popular methods of moving large amounts of data. It’s the type of content most likely to get flagged and moved down the priority lists. This is a list of top VPN (opens new tab) services. Keep in mind that every connection is different and that using a VPN may slow down your connection.
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2. Use a specialised service
A new breed of file transfer service is available that is browser-based and uses proprietary technology to speed up the upload of large files. Masv (opens new tab) is one such service. It specialises in large (20GB+) file transfers via the cloud.
It has a pay-as you-go pricing model, with $0.25 per downloaded gigabyte. There are no subscription fees, contracts, support fees, file size/bandwidth limits, or user limits.
Masv and similar file transfer services may be more expensive than traditional ones, but Masv and other similar services are much faster than Dropbox and Google Drive, and more resilient than the latter.
- Masv can be tried for 7 days free of charge with a 100GB test
3. Use file compression. (opens in new window)
File compression software like the cross-platform 7-Zip is one of the best ways to solve the problem of large files being sent. This works well if you have many files. You can put them all into one folder and then compress them all at once. A large file will transfer more quickly than a smaller folder with the same files.
7-Zip can be used on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It can compress files to both the standard ZIP format and its slightly faster 7ZIP. Without the need for additional software, most major operating systems can extract ZIP files. 7-Zip allows you to set a password that will protect your files so they can be shared safely. Be aware that large files may take too long to upload.
4. Send a 20TB external drive to Courier (opens in a new tab).
It is best to use a disk drive and a courier to transfer large files quickly. The big cloud providers, including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, can transfer large volumes of data via hard drives.
Microsoft Azure charges a flat fee of $75 per storage device, but you will need to provide your own drive. This is similar to Amazon Web Services Import/Export disk. Google, however, uses third-party providers.
The WD My Book Duo external hard drive drives are the most affordable and cost-effective in their category at $749.99. It has a 20TB capacity (there is also an option for a 24TB or 28TB version).
The transfer of 20TB of data to an external hard drive would take over 500 hours or around 20 days on a dedicated 100Mb line. On consumer-grade broadband lines expect it will last for more than one month, and that’s just for upload. Keep a backup of your files and encrypt the hard disk you are sendin
5. Google Drive
Gmail messages cannot contain attachments larger than 25MB. However, Google allows you to save large files to your Google Drive and then send a link to the recipient. Users of Gmail can share files and folders that are up to 10GB. Google’s free tier offers 15GB storage so you can share large files repeatedly for free (subject to deleting, rinse, and repeat).
Google lets you choose whether you want to share a link with everyone or only those to whom the link is sent. Premium plans start at $1.99 per month (PS1.55) for 100GB storage.
- Sign up for Google Drive by clicking (opens new tab).
6. FTP
FTP (File Transfer Protocol), although it may seem a bit old-fashioned compared to cloud services like Dropbox or Google Drive, is still one of the most reliable methods to upload and download files.
FTP is supported by all operating systems. There are many websites and add-ons that allow you to upload and download from your browser. Windows and Mac users have access to the free desktop FTP client cyberduck (opens new tab).
This has one downside: you will need to be able to access a remote server (e.g. choosing the best web hosting service). DriveHQ offers 5GB of storage for free, and the prices are often lower than cloud storage providers.
