Network Not Work

[billroper]

I have to pull some enormous files across our network. Unfortunately, they're not on an FTP site, so I'm trying to copy them. And it turns out that the network is merrily glitching today, so there's no actual hope of copying a 700 MB file before something goes wrong.

Thud, thud, thud.

Comments

Only 700 MB?

[hazelchaz]

Sneakernet! Burn it to a CD-Rom. Or put it on a lipstick drive, and hand-carry it to the computer it needs to go to.

Re: Only 700 MB?

[mdlbear]

I was going to suggest rsync, but sneakernet is way better if you actually have physical access to both ends.

Re: Only 700 MB?

[billroper]

Sadly, that seems to require Linux. The client and server here are both running Windows.

Re: Only 700 MB?

[hazelchaz]

What kind of file? (Is it plain text?)

I wrote a program to break up files into 500-line chunks. I originally wrote it to make it easier to peruse log files... I can use GREP to figure out which log file chunk(s) to look at, and then just load that one/them.

Re: Only 700 MB?

[mdlbear]

http://www.aboutmyip.com/AboutMyXApp/DeltaCopy.jsp - rsync wrapper for Windows.

Re: Only 700 MB?

[billroper]

I looked at that briefly, but what I read implied that I needed something installed on both ends of the link, which would be problematic. On the other hand, the suggestion of Robocopy doesn't require anything installed other than on my machine, so I've got six copy windows running now. We'll see if they survive until morning. :)

Thanks for the suggestions!

Re: Only 700 MB?

[billroper]

Well, yes, that would work if the server I'm trying to retrieve stuff from wasn't 20 miles from my computer. Or half a continent away, which actually turns out to be closer in network terms.

Re: Only 700 MB?

[hazelchaz]

Well, then you run into the value vs. time vs. effort equation, don't you.

If bringing it over the network is impossible (or, impossible this week) then other equations come into play...

Re: Only 700 MB?

[billroper]

In theory, I should be able to get someone to copy the files and FedEx them to me. That is sometimes more difficult in practice. :)

Robocopy

[celebrith.livejournal.com]

Robocopy is your friend. Similar to rsync, but it's a Microsoft tool for Microsoft networks. It works well at copying large files with automatic retry and restarting where it left off.
Works well even over spotty WAN connections.

It's part of the Server 2003 resource kit tools http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9d467a69-57ff-4ae7-96ee-b18c4790cffd&displaylang=en
However, it works equally well on a Windows XP client - you don't necessarily have to have a server in the mix (it works for server-server, server-client, client-client).

Re: Robocopy

[billroper]

Got it. Thanks!

I have six Robocopy windows running right now. I'd like to believe it will finish by morning, but I have my doubts. The total size of this download is going to be about 5.3 GB.

Whee!