I'm looking for a way to send a 10GB file to a friend. I really need to send it over the internet, but e-mail or uploading sites are not really an option.
I remember using MSN messenger and having a file transfer feature that worked decently well. However, my friend doesn't have this software and doesn't want to get it. I know that the professional versions of TeamViewer have such a feature, but are there any free alternatives?
Jetbytes.com will do the job without uploading to their site. It facilitates a point to point transfer.
If either of you has a unix machine (Linux, Mac OS X, etc.) and is not behind a firewall that blocks incoming connections, that person can set up an ssh server and an account that allows SFTP. (Exchange “you” and “your friend” below if necessary.)
On Ubuntu, make sure the openssh-server package is installed. Create a user account for your friend (through the GUI or the command line as you prefer). Set the account's shell to restrict it to SFTP: chsh -s /usr/lib/sftp-server username. If your computer is behind a home router, make it route incoming port 22 (used by ssh) to your computer. Then give your public IP address and the account details to your friend. Your friend should use an SFTP client; unix file browsers can often browse sftp:// URLs, and sftp is available on the command line; on Windows, use Psftp.
On other unices, the steps outlined above should work with minor adjustments. On Windows, something similar may be possible, but I don't know how.
Note that your friend will be able to browse your whole filesystem. If that's a concern, use chroot (I don't have any simple instructions to offer); alternatively (and I think it would be a lot simpler, and it would eliminate the requirement for you to run unix), use a dedicated virtual machine (e.g. Ubuntu in VirtualBox).
Quite seriously, if you're looking for a high bandwidth solution you should consider posting a couple of DVDs. Low risk of data corruption. Immune to connection interuptions.
Sure, the latency is awful, but (your geographical distance depending) the bandwidth is great. It scales well too!
Teamviewer will do it on the free version. At least the newer version does. Instead of hitting remote support, hit file transfer. Try that.
Ftp with filezilla works in windows http://filezilla-project.org/
You download the server and your friend download the client. He can also use a web browsers. If he use a web browser he should type ftp://username:password@yourExternalIp in the adressfield.
You also need to do a portfarwarding in your router.
I second RJFalconer's suggestion of sending that much data via DVD, or USB Memory Stick.
Aside from anything else, you will be severely limited in data throughput on most standard (consumer) internet connections, as ADSL generally has a much lower maximum upload speed compared to download.
In addition, if you're on a home connection and you decided to go the "setting up a server" route, then bear in mind that using 100% of your upload bandwidth (very easy to do) will slow any downloads you do quite considerably (downloads require some upload bandwidth for acknowledgements to the source server). This is true even just for surfing the internet (in fact more-so due to there being many outgoing requests, which will suffer major lag).
CCFile Share: http://www.cc-file-transfer.com/
This sets up a webserver on your machine, (assuming it is a PC). Once a file is shared. It will generate a url for your friend who require no further software to download it. You can also make a share private by associating a username and password with it.
You may need to open certain ports on your router. I also assume you don't reset your modem a lot, cause this needs a static IP.
You don't mention if you are working from home or inside a large protected corporate domain - this might affect the answer you choose.
If you can run a simple website on your machine, you could put the file there for your friend to find. You don't really even need a domain name as long as you can tell your friend the IP address of your router.
