Tech Tails Tip of the Week: Sharing Huge Files
We all need to send enormous files now and again, and email is not the best way to go. Most all email providers cap the size of files sent and received messages to conserve bandwidth and to help manage the sizes of users’ mailboxes.
iChat is a great way to get around that. If you know the recipient’s screen name, simply initiate a session in iChat and select Send File from the Buddies menu on the top of your screen. In the box that opens up, simply navigate to the file in question, and click the Send button. Your recipient will be asked to approve the transfer and select a destination on his or her hard drive, and the transfer will begin.
This is very fast if you and your peer are on the same network and you’re both using a wired ethernet connection. Wi-Fi gained a significant speed boost in the transition from 802.11g to 802.11n, but these speeds don’t even approach those offered by a wired connection. If the file must travel across the Internet, speeds will be completely dependent on yours and your peer’s connections.
It always makes sense to compress files before sending, no matter the method. You can do this by right-clicking on the file or folder in question in the Finder and selecting Compress from the contextual menu.