Tip of the Month 2
Email, .Mac, or FTP?
For clients with a requirement to send or recieve large files, it's sometimes difficult to know the best method of getting files from A to B. While you could use traditional methods like couriering a CD or DVD, sometimes it's just not practical. So what are your options?
In many circumstances you may be tempted to email a large file. If the file is above 5MB, this is bad. Sometimes you may run into trouble even before that point. The fact is, email is not designed to handle large files. With files below 5MB, email might work, however it;s certainly not the fastest option.
Alternatively you could use .Mac. Designforge has a public iDisk folder. You can use a web interface (or if you are on a Mac, the disk can be mounted on the desktop). The disadvantage is that it is a public folder. This means that anyone can see, copy, modify or delete your files. Certainly not the best solution as far as security concerns go. It does have the advantage of convenience and relative ease of use.
The best (and unfortunately, most technically complex) solution is FTP. File Transfer Protocol is designed to send large files. Service Bureaux and Advertising Agencies use FTP servers to routinely send and recieve very large files. It has the advantage of allowing basic security via a Username and Password system.
You can find further details of how to use any of these option in the contacts section.