Changes between Version 5 and Version 6 of Transferring Large Data

Timestamp:

08/28/06 18:02:57 (20 years ago)

Author:

dkg@…

Comment:

--

Transferring Large Data

@@ -20 +20 @@
 ticket #230 also suggests using an `.htaccess` file to require a password before downloading data.  While that ticket is open, this feature is not available in the CAL web servers.  It is also not cryptographically sound: any machine on the various networks between the web server and the receipient can intercept that data and copy it (and can intercept the password used in an unencrypted http session for that matter).  This authentication could be a useful additional layer of security for ultra-top-secret data, however.
 
+If you have a shell account (via `ssh`) on a remote machine that the intended receipient controls, you could also use `scp` or `sftp` to transfer the data to that remote machine for the other person to pick up.  This protects the data while it's in transit.
+
+== receiving data from external sources ==
+
+Your best bet is to ask the sender of the data to post it to a web or ftp server, and then some standard tool (e.g. `wget`, `curl`, `lftp`, etc) to retrieve the data from there.
+
+If the sender of the data does not have access to a server like this, but does have shell access on a remote machine that you also have access to, you could use `sftp` or `scp` to effect the transfer:  have the sender use `scp` or `sftp to move the data to the remote machine, and then use the same tools yourself to transfer them to your local account.
+
 == why using E-mail for binary or large data is a bad idea ==