Fast file transfer without FTP

I have a local and a remote PC. In both case opening FTP port is not allowed.

They both run Windows 7, with a VPN connection.

Copying a single large, compressed file (2G) is very slow using xcopy.

I tried using cygwin copy, but that runs at a similar pace.

Are there any tricks to doing this faster?

ManInMoon

Posted 2014-05-19T12:55:15.217

Reputation: 237

So basically you’re stuck with Windows File Sharing, correct? – Daniel B – 2014-05-19T13:04:17.030

OOC, how fast is it transferring? – Keltari – 2014-05-19T13:24:45.403

Tricks? Yes, you need more bandwidth. What is the up/down speed of the local PC and what is the up/down speed of the remote PC? – MonkeyZeus – 2014-05-19T13:29:20.060

My speed appears to be 1.0 Gbps, but when I look at Task Manager, the network utilization is only 0.08% – ManInMoon – 2014-05-19T13:44:31.010

1 Gbps is the maximum bandwidth attainable internally with the cable/router combo that you have. You need to figure out what is your ISP allowing you. I will assume it is about 15 down and 1 up Mbps which would explain why a 2GB file is taking so long. There is absolutely no software which will fix this for you, you simply need to pay for more speed. – MonkeyZeus – 2014-05-19T15:35:36.490

Answers

The maximum speed you can transfer a file depends on your connection's bandwidth. Protocols like FTP, HTTP, SSH and others differ in the overhead they add. But with a single file of 2GB the overhead effect is not meaningful. Then if your connection bandwidth is 100Mbps your file will take more than 2.86 minutes.

2GB = 2,147,483,648 bytes = 17,179,869,184 bits

17,179,869,184 bits / 100Mbits/s = 171.79869184 seconds = 2.86 minutes

This is the ideal time. In the practice you have protocol overhead, and your network switch is likely to affect this too. So the actual transfer time will be way beyond that.

drk.com.ar

Posted 2014-05-19T12:55:15.217

Reputation: 2 287

Any network switch made in this century can keep up with 1 Mbps. It really is the crappy network. – MSalters – 2014-05-19T16:20:09.063

I'll make an educated guess... you're using a VPN because the remote computer is literally remote, ie far away (at least in another building?); the 1.0Gbps speed you see relates to your local cables, but the limiting factor is likely the upload speed of your remote computer (because in most ISP the upload speed is less than the download speed). Do some math and you'll realize that 0.08% of 1Gbps is ~100 Kbyte/second - is that it? And if not: what speed do you see exactly? Does the same thing happen with smaller files? Uncompressed files? what kind of network is there between the two computers?

loreb

Posted 2014-05-19T12:55:15.217

Reputation: 101