How to transfer large files over the internet

When it comes to transferring very large files over the internet, there are two things we need to consider besides cost: the size of the files and the upload/download speed.

There are two types of cloud services for working with files: services that offer a lot of storage space but at fairly low speeds, built specifically for collaborative work, and services that offer high speeds at a high cost, designed specifically for transferring files.

While I was researching this, I came across TechRadar’s guide to sending large files, but I wasn’t very happy with the solutions they suggested. In this article, I’ve only included platforms that could be used in a business environment (read: they have a good reputation) and that are workable with the types of infrastructure and the internet providers available in Romania.

Let’s go through the available options one by one.

Cloud services for collaborative work with files – low cost, lots of space, low speeds

The most popular cloud services for working on files together are OneDrive, Google Drive and Dropbox. These services were created to make teamwork easier, to let you organize files in structures, to set permissions by group or department and to let several people write in the same file at the same time.

All of these services offer quite a lot of storage space, if you choose the right subscription, but transfer speeds are usually low. The reason lies in how they’re built: they’re optimized for syncing and teamwork, not for massive transfers, and some also have upload limits. Files used every day aren’t kept on archive storage such as Amazon S3 Glacier: that’s even slower and is used for copies that are kept for years and rarely accessed.

If you need to transfer files of a few dozen GB, services like these are useful. For files of hundreds of GB, however, upload and download times are far too long.

Data transfer services – costs based on space used and number of downloads, high speeds

Services such as MASV or Signiant are built specifically for transferring data easily, not for collaborative work. In exchange for high transfer speeds, you usually pay according to the volume of data transferred and, with some services, the number of days the file stays on the server or the number of downloads.

These services are clearly more expensive than the collaborative ones, but they definitely have advantages. MASV publishes its rates on the MASV pricing page. At the last update of this article, in November 2026, MASV charged for every GB transferred and also offered pay-as-you-go, with no contract.

Custom data transfer solution – costs independent of the amount of data, high speeds

Besides cloud services, which are either quite expensive or slow, there’s one more option. If you need to transfer large files over fairly limited areas, the most cost-effective approach is to rent a VPS in a data center or, why not, set up a physical server.

With physical servers, there’s a monthly administration and maintenance cost on top of the initial purchase cost. Whether you set up an FTP solution or something similar to Nextcloud, this kind of setup can be the most cost-efficient option. If you choose FTP, use the encrypted version, SFTP or FTPS: classic FTP sends data and passwords unencrypted.

If you often need to transfer very large files, a local server would pay for itself fairly quickly, since this solution has no price per GB of data.

Which option should you choose in 2026 for a large file?

For files of up to a few hundred GB, the simplest option is a sharing link from the service your company already uses. For very large or very frequent transfers, a dedicated service or your own server is worth it.

• OneDrive and SharePoint (Microsoft 365) accept files of up to 250 GB each. For large files, Microsoft recommends the OneDrive sync app rather than uploading from the browser.
• Google Drive (Google Workspace) accepts files of up to 5 TB, but each user can upload at most 750 GB in 24 hours.
• Dedicated transfer services (MASV, Signiant) suit files of hundreds of GB or a few TB that are sent often, such as video footage.
• Your own server (Nextcloud or SFTP) is the right option for frequent transfers between company offices or with the same partners.

Whichever option you choose, a few security rules still apply:

• give sharing links an expiration date and, where possible, a password;
• send the link only to the people who need it and stop sharing once the file has been downloaded;
• for personal or confidential data, use the company’s accounts, not free transfer services: GDPR requires you to know where the data ends up;
• for important transfers, check after downloading that the file is complete (for example, by comparing checksums).

A transfer solution tailored to your company is a matter of IT infrastructure: choosing the server, the internet connection and the access rules.

RezolvIT has successfully designed both collaborative file solutions and data transfer solutions, always with data security as the main goal.