Very big file question

[Fred]

Hi,

I host a forum of my friends( about 50uniques every day )...
And one of them will upload a 2.8gig file through his ftp account... It's a compressed video we've done during a party :) nothing sexual... just fireworks war... or jump over the fire stuff... fun with a potato gun ... etc ... you know this kind of stuff... :)

But i wonder if having a 2.8 gig file can cause trouble ?
bw is not a problem since i estimate only 10 or 15 downloads will be done...
space is a little problem, since i have 10gigs... but i will still have ~4gigs after the upload.
The big file will stay on the machine for about two weeks...

The only problem so far:
Uploading it will take a while ( Tried many times with 100mo files, it's good when it starts( say 90k/s ) but it slowing up to 20K/s within 5 or 10 minutes... i have to stop it and resume it to come back with the 90k/s )

Downloading shouldn't be a problem since we all get speed of 600k/sec or even 900k/sec for certain users...

So will it be fine to have a 2.8 g file ? something particular to look at ?

thanks for your help :)

[Robert]

I would seriously recommend against just one big file. Especially if you somehow end up with 2-3 set to download at once.

The upload/download will vary depending on network congestion between you and your server, but typically the longer the transfer, the slower it will get. LOL. (I remember the days of transfering a 600 MB file and it taking over a week!)

So while it's technically "possible", I would highly recommend you break up the file if at all possible.

[Fred]

it's technically possible... of course... I will ask them to cut the videos or the archive... What max size do you recommend ?
if he cuts the video/archive in 5, we get 560mo file... is i't still too big ?


I'm trying to get them rip dvds and sent them to the users... I'll put a paypal button for donations for work, dvd and postage :P

[Robert]

560MB would be fine. *PERSONALLY* I try to keep downloads under 600MB just because for folks who can't put files onto DVD that they can still easily back to CD, etc.

But that's personal preference on my part. Your milage may vary. :)