It still amazes me that with all these years of Internet domination, there are still a lot of individuals not using the potential of it. Just a fraction of the Internet users actually squeeze what can be done online. One of these "things" is the fact that many still don't know how to send big files over the Internet. Many still rely on swapping media, and to certain extend it is comprehensible. But what if you need a 652MB CD with information and it needs to be in your partner's hand in Nepal "pronto"? What would you do? FedEx? Let me tell you that, if you didn't know, there are many, many, many websites out there offering free send-big-files service up to, as far as I have seen, 2GB (yes, that's a "G" and a "B") of information...

Pros and Cons of Sending Big Files Over the Internet

Sending big files saves you time, and it is very convenient. The system usually works by uploading a file to a server and then, once the file is safely in their hands, you can email your contacts with a link to download it; piece of cake. However, the bigger the file, the longer it takes to upload it, and these services offer you 2 alternatives: if you send big files all the time, then you should go for a paid subscription which gives you faster bandwidth, meaning faster uploads and/or downloads. The other option is to send a big file, let's say 1GB, and do it the free way. It will take decades to upload (just kidding, just years), but you can do it "gratis."

A downside of using this services is that they are usually not secured (unless you pay). So important documents should never be sent via the Internet unless you are guarantee some sort of security protecting your data.

A few of the sites I use are Megaupload and YouSendIt.

Happy file sharing the smart way!