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File Uploads

HTTP or FTP

Here are the pros / cons to each, based on our existing infrastructure:

HTTP (Websites)

Pros
  • Can use through website with no special configuration or software
  • Works well with small files (8 MB or smaller)
Cons
  • Cannot resume file upload
  • Changing upload limit sizes requires changing web server configuration
  • Uploads may time out, and would have to be restarted
  • Web server has a long time out length, so upload could break and user wouldn't know for some time
  • Can only upload a few files at a time
  • No rate-limiting – the upload uses all available bandwidth

FTP (Software)

Pros
  • Works well with large files (8MB and higher, up to gigabytes in size)
  • Can setup rate-limiting (how fast a file can be uploaded) so the network is not saturated
  • File uploads can be resumed, in case of disconnects or network issues
  • Directory support – users can see which files are available, and upload, delete, rename, etc.
Cons
  • Requires an FTP server
  • Must create an FTP user account
  • Client needs to setup FTP software and be familiar with using it
  • Little to no web app integration