Large File Transfer

This page contains instructions for Dryad users who want to deposit very large files. Files larger than 1GB may not work with the normal Dryad submission system. Uploading these files may fail due to unstable internet connections or web browser timeouts. In these situations, Dryad can accept content uploaded through alternate mechanisms.

What to do if your files are large
If you have files larger than 1GB and receive an error when using the the Dryad submission system, please contact the Dryad staff at [mailto:help@datadryad.org help@datadryad.org]. The staff will analyze your situation and make recommendations for how to proceed.

Uploading files through FTP
If you have files that are too large to transfer via the normal upload process, the curator may ask you to upload your files through FTP. You will be given instructions for accessing the Dryad FTP server. However, you will still need to complete the regular Dryad submission process using "dummy" files as placeholders for your actual files.

Splitting large files
To ensure accessible downloads, Dryad recommends that you limit the size of each individual file (or directory of files) to 10GB. If you have a file larger than 10GB, it can be broken into smaller pieces. For example, if you have a large zip or tar archive with multiple subdirectories, please consider compressing and uploading each subdirectory separately. If you are unable to do so, you may split a file as follows:

On Unix, Linux, or Mac OSX, you may use the "split" command, like this: split -b 5000m myVeryLargeFile.txt

On Windows machines, you may split files with HJsplit.

Recombining files that have been split
On Unix, Linux, or Mac OSX, you may recombine files with the "cat" command, like this: cat partaa partab partac > dataFile.txt

On Windows, you may recombine files with the "copy" command, like this: copy /B partaa+partab+partac dataFile.txt

Technical Details
See Large File Technology.