Storage, distribution and sharing of BIG files

Gratuitous Advice #03  (Every care, but no responsibility taken for its use.)

Here are a few notes and links for the storage, distribution and sharing of big files. It is often inconvenient, always very slow and sometimes not possible to send large files as e-mail attachments. It is always very ‘bad form’ as one should allow the receivers to choose when they have time to download a large file.

Varied advice is given as to the maximum size for e-mail attachments. This seems to range from 50Kb to 200Kb.

A good rule of thumb with files larger than, say, 200Kb is to send them in some other way.

This use of the internet is evolving so rapidly that it is pointless to be too specific. I offer here principles that may help in storing and moving big files. Many of the sites which offer(ed) free storage are now selling better services either free from or with less advertisements. You at least get some idea of their valuing of the inconvenience that advertisements cause the user!

There are a number of Web Sites offering to freely store big files and to let one share access to them. These ones listed below are only those with whom the author has had dealings.

Of course one ‘pays’ for these services by having to tolerate the advertising. The degree of intrusion varies significantly between sites. Users may find it a small price to pay. One may even find it interesting and useful as the download proceeds.

Many others storage sites exist. A quick search in Google using “file storage web” turned up a large number. Sadly most sites seem to be trying to become dotCom millionaires before the age of 25 rather than providing an effective service. Quite a few virtually take over the desktop with advertisement windows, effectively inhibiting the continuation of other work whilst down- or up-loading big files.

Another drawback of many sites is that they are so focused on advertising that they use masses of ActiveX and non-standard ECMAScript (‘JavaScript’) to allow the advertisers to ‘invade’ one’s computer screen. This often precludes users of computers and browsers which stick to the proper International Standards. It is probably best to avoid such sites which are controlled by the market dominance of the non-standard Windows OS and software.

They each work slightly differently with WhaleMail coming closest to actually sending an e-mail attachment. Others allow long-term storage with some people using sites for backing up files such as documents, images or MP3 music files which take up a lot of space. It seems very good for getting large files to folk without cluttering their email. Files drop off after 14 days. This may be a good way to follow proper net etiquette, but still deliver big files (up to 75MB!). Since being taken over by SwapDrive, Inc. WhaleMail seems far less friendly to the casual, home user.

Many of these sites have proved either ephemeral or have changed character quickly and become less suitable for the home user. Consequently it has become a major task to maintain a list of links to good sites.

It is therefore best to search for them oneself or use the splendid and well-maintained list at: Web-based File Storage Services