Axosoft’s Secret Service: Sending Large Files
A while back, Dan Suceava (head of Axosoft’s software development efforts) and I decided to embark on a mad-man-weekend-project. The crazy idea was for us to see if we could develop a simple web-based service that allowed a user to send large files (as big as 1GB) to another user without the use of FTP. We wanted the service for us! Sending large files via email was not an option since most email programs don’t allow large attachments, and we need an easy way to send 100MB+ files, videos and databases to friends, family and co-workers.
So the idea for TransferBIGFiles.com was born.
The service went live 3 years ago! Since then, more than 1.2 MILLION files have moved through the service and thousands more go through each and every day. An average of a 1/4 million people use the service every month and Axosoft has footed the bill for more than 147 TERABYTES of bandwidth usage. It’s pretty satisfying to see a weekend project generate such incredible demand. I’ve received hundreds of emails from people all over the world who have said everything from “you are a life saver” to “I can’t believe this incredible service is actually free.” People love it.
Today, I happened to run into my own article titled “Just a Weekend Project” where I wrote the story of how we created TransferBigFiles.com in just 20 hours and it brought back some memories. I wanted to revisit some of the images from that short journey:
We did a white-board design session in an hour and a half
I hand-drew the UI on my Tablet PC
We entered our 11 tasks into OnTime (it was V4.0 at the time :-)
This is Dan installing the server
That was me – holy cow I look so much younger!
Since then, TransferBigFiles.com has received a couple of hardware upgrades and a couple of software updates to manage the demand and we’ve kept it free the entire time. We think the good Karma has definitely rubbed off on Axosoft’s success, so we’re pretty happy with the results.
The title of this article is “Axosoft’s Secret Service,” because we really don’t do much to promote Transferbigfiles.com. But, I wanted to let the cat out of the bag for my blog readers, in case any of you are looking for a super easy way to send large files — no registration, no software to download, share files with anyone who has an email address!
Hi Hamid. Out of curiosity, how do you handle/deal with warez/pr0n, and all that bad stuff that people might try to use(abuse) your service for?
Sameer, several ways:
1) files that go through TBF are not discoverable unless users publish their links somewhere else.
2) files can only be downloaded a maximum of 20 times and live for only 5 days, so it’s not a great way to publish some “warez” for others to download
# 1 & 2 pretty much make TBF not a good tool for doing that. However, as a 3rd measure, we also have a “Report abuse” feature that automatically removes files that have been published publicly that shouldn’t have been.
Hey, thanks for your service! I just got a panicked call from a colleague 2000 miles away who lost his flash drive (and backup CD) before his presentation. The Google led me here, and he got a fresh copy of his 90MB file as quick as you please.
I owe someone over there a beer. :D
This is awesome – I absolutely love reading firsthand stories about “the big startup”.. Congrats for the success and THANK YOU!!!!!!
its the greatest service i ever came across on net!!!kudos!
This service solves so many problems for Sound Post Production – sending mixes as wavs and sound source material as omf files, and even rough working copy video. The internet is now very usefull!
Thanks.
You guys look funny :)
Used your service again today for the n’th time. Thanks!
You guys rock!!!!! Where can I send donations? Mail me if you have a PayPal account.
Your site is really a big help to us (IT students of Technological Institute of the Philippines). Actualy I indorce your site to my schoolmates because it’s so easy and fast in transfering datas. Hope you maintain your good service to your users. I’m very thankful that there’s a ‘transferbigfile.com’ :)
Great idea! Huge help for all the (good) people in need of big file transfers! You should get the Nobel Peace prize for your contribution to a better world :)
Used this service alot, but the ads are bugging me. Anyone tried http://www.247share.net ??
I tried transfer bigfiles.com and found out o too slow in transfer. Its transfer rate was about 90kb/s. I had a large file about 500 mb and it took one and a half hour and even then the transfer failed. TBF Dropzone could not work at all. I realize that you are in beta version and this might give you a feedback on debugging the program. I was successful on one ocassion when the file was 105 mb. Yousendit ftp transfer which is free up to 100mb, transfers at a rate of about 600 kb/s – just for your info.
I installed the TBF DropZone Client. Getting a 900mb file from Australia over to a colleague in Italy. Left it uploading over night and came back in the morning to see the queue froze at 37%… you list a “resume after interruptions” feature but this does not seem to work.
Keep up the great work! A friend sent me a file using this service and it worked great! Thanks!
Awesome..
Superb.. amazingly easy and fast..
Really neat.
i love you! you’re a lifesaver!
Very nice, but for those who want to send files larger than a gig, there’s 2large2email (http://www.2large2email.com/). You can try them out with their free plan first.
I had 10 good sized video files to send to a client and came across your site in a cnet review. I was amazed at how simple and quick it was to use. As long as I didn’t mess around with other programs while a file was up uploading it worked great. The person on the other end had no problems at all. Thanks for sharing this great service with all of us.
Dan Browning
Dan@RainDancerVideo.com
Me parece maravilloso
Hi,
I was wondering why the only file transfer is faster than TBF drop zone. the rate is 45KB/s vs 28KB/s(TBF)?
Granted it recovers from a broken connection & will finish transfer. Where is my web browser resest the page it looks like the transfer is stopped. I can Upload up to 50KB/s Max. I’ve tested the line between me & my friend out in California. So, the question is why the difference? The transfer takes twice as long. Is there a back ground setting that needs to be changed? I do appreciate what you have done to provide large file transfer but so far only 1 of the 3 work. Also, do you guys change the way the files are handled? I sent a zip and only 3 of the 4 files worked. Unfortunately, this was the largest one at 87MB.
Thank you for you time,
Sincerely,
John Mondin
This is truly the best thing I’ve stumbled on in a very long time. I did a google search saw your link went to it — nothing to download nothing to sign up/into. Just found my file put in my e-mail and there it was sweet.
I have been emailing you several times and do not get a response. I have used your website to send large files but suddenly it stopped working. I am no longer able to receive files from your website. I can send them occasionally, but I cannot receive them. I have switched my antivirus scan from Nortons to AVG. This has not helped either. I have called my server and they are not blocking any emails from this site. It says that it goes through but it never gets to me. Can you help. There are other sites out there to use but I like this one the best. Can you help me. dmorgan1@roadrunner.com
You guys rock!
You guys rock! Thanks so much!
Hey. I was wondering how you guys afford to pay for this. Where do you get the money from to pay for the websites and transfering files??? Please reply.
May God bless you for your gracious act which I’m sure has blessed many by now.
I would like to second that remark – God Bless you all for your generous spirits! It was very kind of you to share this wonderful invention with us. May blessings come back to you in abundance. Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! – A grateful graphic designer!
Fantastic service, a friend send me the link. Well done for creating and keeping it free guys :)
I love this service for sending big files, it’s way much better than crappy “skydrive” provided by microsoft. I think it’s better than “bandongo” or “rapidshare – megaupload”. It’s so simple and effective. Great!
Hi thanks a lot for your incredible service.
Absolute Genius! more powerful than God!
As a retired old time IT guy (started in 1980 with TRS-80′s in a classroom) I love the spirit in your story. Years ago it wasn’t always all about money – just so much fun, and the challenge, and yes, the karma.
I had been looking for a way to share the video of my model RR with friends and my granddaughter who live far away. Now I have found it. Thank you!!
This is very good work, fellows.
I often need to exchange high res photos with a work colleague and your programme steps right up to the mark.
You are very generous to share it with us.
Thank you.
Tom Brady
Please figure out a way to transfer objects and matter through the internet. think of it – you turn someone into data, transfer them thru your site and viola, someone downloads them on the other side of the earth. no more UPS no more AIRLINES. you guys are really onto something!
Derek – vegaswood.com
Yes–that would be a big file transfer I could truly support. If you could do it with baggage you could perhaps also do it with pets and small children–and household goods. Think of the energy savings and savings to businesses as they relocate far-flung employees. Maybe even as a solution to time-consuming commuting! It could be called “Unwieldy Stuff Transfer” (.com). I’d love to see the white board when you guys decide to tackle this side of the business. You could have a division called “matter” and one called “data” and another called “matters more”.
Yeah, but the “Resume Interrupt” feature could prove r-e-a-l-l-y messy!
Just wanted to say thanks for this. A group of us studying for veterinary pathology boards have been using this to send each other study material – all the digital pictures make the files huge, and this works great for us!
THis is awesome guys…so much better then http://FTP... Thanks for sharing!!
Very good
Just used it to send a Proshow file to 3 friends of a photo trip we took to Utah. Thanks!!!
I use a lot of video and as anyone knows that means huge files. This site really has solved the problem of getting such large files to the people who need them.
So thanks very much indeed for the time, effort and money that you give towards running this service.
All the best,
Mark Moxom
This is great. I truly appreciate it…
Please, make a progress bar and the site will be PERFECT!
hi,
I want to send some soft copy of photographs to UK..do I pay for it or to whom I send this file .
just can’t get enough of your site. Many a deadline and job saved. thankyou
Love this service. It helped me keep a client as I had to get my large file to a printer in another city ASAP to meet a deadline. Large Tiff files take a long time to transfer, and if I go back a screen, the transfer is lost. Love the progress indicators.
I would like to give more input for glitches and then would be happy to buy the alpha? finished version.
Try verzend.be:
- 1GB size limit
- 100% free
- files and folders
- Fast, No limits, No adds!
http://www.verzend.be
I have 2 large video files that I needed to send to a friend about 1000 miles away. Transferbigfiles’s service failed to upload every time I tried, and I tried it at least half a dozen times using both my Mac and my PC laptop. So, I tried this verzend.be service. After 5 tries, I was able to successfully upload the first of the 2 files. This is a 90MB file. My friend was also successful downloading it. I then tried to upload the second of 2 files. This one being 156MB in size (my maximum being just over a gigabyte). This time it took me 7 tries before I was able to successfully upload the file, but I did upload it. However, my friend could not download it. The download page did not have a download button. I tried and was able to upload the second of 2 files again, though it took several tries. However, as with the other, the download page did not have a download button. As you can see I’m having all sorts of fun.
Hi. This is very helpful. i hate yahoo mail who cannot transfer big files.. this transferbigfiles is so fast and easy.. thanks for the service! thanks to google also who led me here..
Excellent service. It sometimes takes a little time to download files which is acceptable given that the service is free. However some sort of progress marker or bar would make the slowish transfer times even more acceptable.
Yes, something that would indicate if it’s working at all would be a start. After that, a progress marker of any kind would be very helpful. I wish I could add to all the positive comments here, but this has not been my experience. I’ve been trying to upload/send a 90 MB file for almost 3 hours now using a standard broadband connection. I have no idea if this is working or not. I walked away from my computer for the first 2 hours just so I wouldn’t screw anything up accidentally. I’ve returned, and I haven’t a clue whether anything has or is happening. I copied myself in on this first try, and so far nothing has shown up in my mailbox. Feeling very frustrated and annoyed. Sorry. Getting this file to point B by the end of the day was pretty important.
Check out Swap it! Encrypt it! Swap it! Encrypt it! lets me send large files fast and with out buying a membership! Plus I can send files to and from computers or mobile devices. Just select the file size you’d like to send and then pay accordingly. Swap it! Encrypt it! Lite is a free (no membership required) way to send files up to 25 MB in size fast.
hi
Amazing! At first it looked too easy and expecting a catch!
I trasferred 156 Mb in 45 minutes that would have taken 12 hours on hotmail.
You made my friend happy in China! Thanks so much you guys.
I photograph On-Location head shots. This is THE BEST WAY to get files transfered to my clients.
I also write an online article on http://www.ShootSmarter.com, a photographic web site with over 50,000 visitors EVERY MONTH
This is going to be in my next smARTICLE….
Thanks and WAY TO GO
Why Dont You Add a Message Box at the Bottom Of the Web page So You Can Add Important
Information To the File? Secure Message File Encryption as Well as Message Enryption
So the Government and Hackers Cant Read or Get Into Your Personal Details.
Hi!
Nice service but……
I try to upload some files through a registered DropZone account and by the TBF DropZone client from
my pc but what i see is that the upload speed dasent go up than 12Kb/s
When i try to upload the same files on other same service site, it get uploading by 102Kb/s max which
is my normal upload speed!
I dont know where is the problem on this!
I have DSL connection with 1MB upload and 24MB download!
So when i see this speed i give up and stop the uploading of my files!
Can someone please help me on this or give me any idea about it?
Thanks in advance!
hello
thank you all
best regards
Great work yall. Keep it up
Works like a charm every time.Thanks a lot!!
Works like charm is which way?
How you use it and works for you and not for others?
Its a bit strange for me!
I tried 3 separate times today to send a simple, 90 MB video file (.wmv). I gave each try over 2 hours to do its thing. All three times were failures. I don’t know what all these other people did that they were successful, and are happy about it. The program doesn’t indicate that anything’s actually happening; doesn’t give you any kind of progress indicator… I’m totally frustrated and have given up!
As i have say also on a before message i have try to send some files to a friend through a registered
DropZone account and by the TBF DropZone client (which you give on your site as a beter way to send
files and that it keep longer the time which the files stay online) but what i get it was that to
upload (the highest) not more than 8kb/s by a connection of 1MB DSL upload speed!!! I have as i have
say also before DSL connection of 24MB-D/1MB-U and my normal upload mesured also by other sites of a
same type of services on 95-102kb/s.
How it can be possible that your service upload by so low speed? Where is the problem on this cituation?
Do i make (or do we make because i see im not the only one who have this problem) some mistake?
Something wrong on installation or in use? Some wrong configuration maeby?
As i see no one give any answer on our questions :-( No one care about this service!
My first commend was at May 21, 2009 but since then no answer from anyone about it!!!
Why? Do you realy care about this service or not?
YouSendIt Copy Cats!
Copy cats, how so? Any more so than myriad other large file services? Your accusation doesn’t make sense. YouSendIt does allow free sending of files, but the maximum size is 100MB, and there are several other limitations. However, for $3/month one can send a file on YouSendIt as large as a gigabyte. However, I didn’t want to take the chance after having so much trouble with Transferbigfiles’ and verzend.be’s services. Copy cats these services are not, however.
I have the impression that despite not making sense, this service is not Mac friendly. I’ve tried to use it many times to send a file, including right now, and I’m not able to get anywhere. I tried using this service on my work PC laptop, and DID get a progress marker but in the end, the file did not upload. I wish I knew what these others who’ve posted having success are doing that I’m not.
Because i have post without to take any answer on my post and not any idea at all
for solving my (our) problem, i have check around the internet and i have find this
http://www.filemail.com site where works smothly and fast and give you the right to upload
for free, files of 2GB at a time.
You can check its payed services also where they work also fast!
Greetings!
An option is File Apartment (http://www.fileapartment.com):
- Up to 1 GB
- Easy to use
- Free, Safe and secure
- No software to download or registration required
- Fast
Hey, thanks for a really useful site. It was a blessing to me
you have the best site of the world. thank you so
much. Keep up the good work
Desde que descubri esta joya envio mis fotos sin problema de verdad maravilloso.
What an amazing service!
hi, please.. is there any way that i can sign up? because i dony know, i can NOT send file anymore, when it’s uploaded, bam, i go back at the front page..
please help! your web is amazing!
kind regards,
Great job on this project. You made it simplistic and easy to use.
You don’t have to “sign” up for anything – it’s completely free.
I will continue to use and recommend to others.
I created a large Power Point presentation in Maryland and needed to send it to my family in Puerto Rico to honor my mother-in-laws 75th birthday. Your service allowed this celebration to be a success and was free for me to use. I will recommend your website and service to others. Thank you!!!
HI this is a nice option to transfer the file between friends..regards
Unbelievable but experienced really. Unbelievable because its free !!!!
Why have you kept free while it can draw a good revenue to you. Nobody will mind to use it on reasonable costs ? Just Surprised why it is free ? Could not know the reason from your story given !!!!
Undoubtedly great service and help to those who require it sometimes desperately and time is the limit. Could not know why is it free ! ! ? I believe nobody will mind using it at some reasonable costs and you guys can earn a lot out of it ? One of the biggest surprise I have ever experienced !!
Anyways Many-many -thanks
I would like to thank TBF Team..who have made impossible thing possible. My client is sitting 1400 kms away from my office but it never feels he is 1 km away from me. U Guys Rock !
I’m not wearing pants.
Thanks a lot for the services.
few days back my engineer move to a deep remote location in central INDIA, but forget to take the software for which he was sent (approx 50mb), then one of my counter-part told me to use this site for file transfer. the same was compleated in aprox 10 – 15 minuts time, that too on dial up connection, at remote locations we dont have broadband connection or bandwidth more thaan 512 KB
again thanks a lot for such a wonderful service.
Regards
Rahul Agrawal, +91-982-619-9011
This is a very good idea and it works. Iam very happy with it.
The service is wonderful. One suggestion would be to build in a return receipt that lets the sender know when it has been downloaded by the recipient.
Thanks and have a great week!
Sorry, that was at least OnTime v5.0 when TBF came out :) See the Multi-Edit? I did that! :P
Just want to thank you guys for this awesome site.
i was using my hosting provider powweb to host and send files to other people… when i got to work and realized it was only going 3 megs and the fact that mediafire sucks balls made me look for
Large file send
on google…. this pointed me to you guys.
you not only take the files faster than my hosting provider which i pay for, but you surpassed mediafire’s speeds as well.
i am truely impressed with this service and would be willing to pay for fast hosting like you guys have.
very impressed, good work, good design you guys rock :)
Greetz,
Dj KWHY
EDM dj
Djkwhy.com
I’ve a 180+ MB file to transfer to my friend and initially thought of using yousendit. You have to register for yousendit and its a hassle besides it restricted you to a 100MB of file at one time. This site is good and even though the transfer speed isn’t that fast, its easy to use and serve my purpose. Thanks for creating such a service for us. Kudos to you guys !
Hi!
Thanks for this great service. I had to send a big file nearly 800 MB to my boss. sendspace only allowed 300 MB free … But you guys just saved me by allowing 1 GB. Great work!! May God Bless you …
Thanks. I very much appreciate this service.
Lester
Puse las pistas a trasferir en la noche, y en la mañana
me dijo que un error habia pasado. Me puede explicar que hice mal. Eduardo Gutierrez.
i have a question . My friend sent me i file today at 8am.
When will I receive download link.
Is link send instantliy after ih uploads files or not? I didnt received it yet. So is it possible that he misspeld my web adress or do I have to be patient and wait the download link
I have sent two days ago 15 pictures but the recipient doesn’t have recived any notification. Is anything working bad?
You guys are awesome! This is just the sort of service I love. Direct and to the point, the name of the site says it all. And not having to worry that my stuff is out there forever helps me sleep at night. If I had to nitpick, I’d say uploads are kind of slow, but since nobody else even approaches the file sizes you allow, I’m not complaining at all. Thanks for the awesome service.
Thank you for your services! I can’t believe this is free!!You guys should be on TEDTalks!
I was thrilled to find your TransferBigFiles site, and happy that it worked so easily and well to send my 1 big file!
I would have happily paid you a dollar to send it!
Thank you for your generosity, I’ve used your service several times to transfer large size PDFs and they upload easyas everytime.
I’m a grandfather wanting to send many short videos I’ve taken. Will your program send any type of video (mine are .AVI’s, MOV’s,and various other digital cameras I have used over the last ten years. And what I can’t figure out is how you make money. Do you have advertisers on your site with pop-ups? As you can tell, I’m not real computer literate, but I’m trying. Thanks in advance, Jay
I am grateful for your large file transfer.—My IO.DROP recently failed at yahoo and I found your site while searching for an option.
See my web sit,as listed above by url or at “SKYTRAINZASTRON”—I am also engaged in another search.—A real,missing “derelict” automaton.
Maybe there is even aaway to send large fite’s instantly.–4000 year’s ago.—-Thank’s again.—(not joking,unless I’m wrong)
Kudos to your building this site. You’re a real lifesaver!!! More power to you!!!!!
I’ve used your wonderful service many times in production of my new CD. This makes tranfering audio files and working with musicians around the world a snap. Thanks again!
Someone sent me a 15-minute video via Transferbig files, and then separately emailed the file name to me. However, when I go on the Transferbigfiles website there is no download button – only an upload button. How therefore do I download?
Thanks a million.
You will get a download link send to the email id when you upload that file. Just click on that download link
Do you accept donations?
Sir, amazing wonderful thought & done.
Thanks for sharing to improve my mind
Regards, Singh Amrik
hi , thanks a lot for making such software….
regards
ananth
THANKS guys.
Is people like YOU that make this World a BETTER PLACE.
Congrats from Spain.
truely agree der wit u luisXL..
agha hamid barikalla!
man…i shud admit. dis is one of d coolest thing on net i hv ever come across. infact, i shud say its a real life saver. keep up d gud work dan and …
I just raved about your service on facebook, but tonight I have been unable to complete my file transfer after numerous tries. I have a solid fast DSL connection, but each time I return to my computer to check on the progress of the transfer it was interrupted and my screen reads:
Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage
What you can try:
Diagnose Connection Problems
More information
Help please….
Great Service.
How do you fund this very useful service?….
…no itch to make the big bucks by selling it off?
Kumar
I wanted to send a folder containing a large number of image files using your service = about 300 MB, but apparently one cannot send a folder, just individual files. In this case sending each image file would have been too laborious a process. If it’s not possible to send a folder such as this now, will it be in the future?
All you have to do is zip up the folder and send over as one file.
Try Binfer.com. You can drag and drop hundreds of files. It transfers files directly from yours to your contacts computer. It has saved me lots of time. The iste is http://www.binfer.com
Guys,
The service is great, best of luck for future projects.
Andre
It is the most simplest and easy way of transfering huge files. Congrats for developing such a simple but very useful idea.
My company doesn’t have an ftp site nor do most of my clients to handle big files. You have saved me dozens of times, when I needed to get information fast to my clients all over the world. I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m sure you hear it over and over, but I am very appreciative and thankful for your efforts. Great job!
Dan and Hamid, thanks a lot for what you are doing !
HOW I DOWNLOAD DRAWINGS IN THIS WEB SITE?????????????
Love the program make send large plot and cad file easy. Thanks Guys for TBF
Jack from Tama sent me the link to the TBF and we all love it. some designers work at different locations and are always transfering large files. Now we don’t hsve to break them apart. Great Job!