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Human Rights  » Using FTP to Send Large Files

Using FTP to Send Large Files

It was inevitable that our work files would mushroom to sizes

far beyond restrictions imposed by most email services. The

reason can be summarized in one word: graphics.

Whether you want to send photos, CADD (computer aided drafting &

design) files or encyclopedic volumes of scanned documents, you

will hit roadblocks when you try to send these as email

attachments.

Most email systems reliably allow file attachments of 1 megabyte

or less. Above that level, service becomes unreliable, or at

worst, nonexistent. Many have been chagrined to find that their

large file transmission never arrived at its destination, yet

they received no error message other than a very upset human one

from the awaiting party.

Companies such as architectural and graphics design firms who

routinely send large files have discovered a solution: FTP.

FTP (File Transmission Protocol) is the method by which large

files are sent across the Internet. For example, when I press

the "Publish" button in the blogger software I am using (a free

Google service called Blogger (www.blogger.com), the service

will send this article to my remote server (the computer which

hosts my website) using FTP.

Generally, when you upload or download files from a website, you

are using FTP. It is a more direct connection between you and

the server because it is not routed through email systems at

all. However, using FTP you will still use email, but it is just

to tell the other party that a file has been posted to the FTP

site.

By now you might assume that unless you have an always-on

computer with a URL (web address) and web-hosting software, FTP

might not be in your future. Wrong-o. There are companies out

there including Poingo (www.poingo.com) who will rent you space

on their remote server for a very nominal monthly charge.

Then the question becomes, "how do I do it?"

You can actually transmit files to a remote server using Windows

Explorer(tm), however there are more robust applications

available. We use Wise-FTP (www.wise-ftp.com), but we have heard

that CuteFTP (www.cuteftp.com) is also good.

These apps will allow you to set up URL, username and password

on a one-time basis, so that your FTP webspace can be accessed

later with one click. Use FTP software to upload your large file

to your remote webspace. You then need to teach your recipient

to access and download it.

There are a few ways to do this. For the tech-savvy and

trustworthy recipient, teach her what you learned about FTP

software and get her up to speed. After you upload a file, send

her an email which says, "Go to the site and grab this

file:___". You will need to give her the URL, username and

password to your webspace, which involves a leap of faith. After

all, anyone with this information can access all of the files

you have posted there, and can also inadvertently delete files.

Now comes the cool part. Have you ever clicked on a download

link? Did you notice that you did not have to supply a username

or password in order to download? Download links are a function

of http (hypertext transfer protocol-the way websites

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communicate to web visitors). The idea is that you gain

download-only rights to a file if you know its exact URL, path

and filename. No username or password required.

Poingo has developed an application called Personal-FTP

(www.poingo.com) which puts the power of download links in your

hands. It is so easy that you will wonder why you never knew

about it before.

You will need a remote webspace and knowledge of the path your

webspace provider uses to specifically access your webspace, not

to mention the system rights. Or use Poingo FTP Service for a

more integrated experience.

Using Poingo Personal-FTP software, you see a "browse" screen

which allows you to select files within your local computer or

network. When they are selected, click "Upload All" and watch

the file transfer progress. When the upload is complete,

Personal-FTP automatically creates a new email and places

download links to your files in the email. Your recipient either

clicks on the link or pastes it into her browser to get a fast,

clean download without access to your other posted files.

This is the type of straightforward, elegant solution

poingologists love.

About the author:

Mark Meshulam offers the Poingo Productivity Suite, a suite of

simple software programs which make your work easier and much

more fun at http://www.poingo.com.

Also, see his blog at www.blog.poingo.com