How can I copy a big file from one Windows machine to another limiting speed transfer?

06
2014-04

Diogo

Because of traffic reasons I am not able to transfer big files inside my network, unfortunatelly, I need to do such thing everyday.

I usually transfer these files by coping and pasting from my computer to another network drive(\targetIP\targetpath), just like this:

enter image description here

TIs there any tool, Windows configuration or some technique to limit file speed transfer to 10Mb/s?

PS: I don't want to use FTP or another protocol.

Answers

shinjijai

Use Robocopy with /IPG switch.

http://ss64.com/nt/robocopy.html for more info on RoboCopy

Vladimir Oselsky

Use Robocopy with a /IPG switch to limit bandwidth. Robocopy comes standard on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 Server

http://yellowtriangle.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/bandwidth-throttling-with-robocopy/

this link includes formula for figuring out maximum speed.

Related Answers

Laurent Etiemble

Unless the computers are connected by an ad-hoc wireless network, it is the distance between the computer and the access point that is important.

54 Mbps is a theorical throughput, which is roughly equivalent to 6,75MB/s. So you can expect up to 6,75MB/s as network bandwidth.

But when your are transfering files, the bandwidth is not fully used for transfer because of: - Wireless control frames - Network overhead (IP headers) - File Transfer Protocol overhead - Packet loss - Interference and retransmission

At the end, the best you can expect is around 4MB/s in real transfer rate with light protocol (like HTTP).

Breakthrough

Mb/s means megabits per second. To convert to megabytes, you simply divide by 8, since there are 8 bits in a byte.

So 54Mb/s = 54Mb/s * 1Mb/8MB = 6.75MB/s

So you can theoretically cap out at just under 7 megabytes per second on 802.11g. :)

Thomas

You describe the transfer between two computers, but please be aware that the data has to travel from computer A to the router first and then is send from router to computer B. If you want to avoid this, than you have to set up a network on the first computer and then join the network with the second computer or use peer networking. And we did not get into details of disk and computer and router speed here...

Also, 54Mbit is the "Marketing Speed", the speed of protocol frames send out, not the speed of the data bits. Rule of thumb is, that the fastest over-air transfer you can get is half the speed, e.g. - where the disk is connected to the router itself is 20-25 Mbit/s - where you have computer - router - computer divide again by two, e.g. 10-12 Mbit.

(File copy on from my USB drive connected to a 300n router yields 5.4 MB/s (43.2Mbit/s))

Peter Stuer

This source is very handy in comparing the various throughput's of different networking media. As they note, depending on the technology there can be a large difference between the stated raw physical layer speed, and the actual payload throughput.

For 802.11g they list a maximum throughput of 3.1 MB/s

Also, note that 802.11g connections can actually get worse if you place the peers too close to each other. Not all manuals list this, but try keeping both machine at least 20 centimeters apart.

slhck

When working with one router (and this router has only one radio), then the two computers will have to share the bandwidth between each other.

For example, you have 6 MB/s bandwidth. Computer A is using half and computer B is using the other half or can drop to 3 or 2 MB/s.

If you have a multi radio (MIMO) router then the transfer rates can increase. The best scenario for transferring would be Ethernet-router-Ethernet between computers, allowing for either 100Mbit transfers or Gigbit networks with 1000Mbit transfers.

slhck

Slow network file copying in Windows 7 can be caused by Remote Differential Compression.

Remote Differential Compression (RDC) allows data to be synchronized with a remote source using compression techniques to minimize the amount of data sent across the network.

[…]

There seems to be a problem with this Windows 7 and disabling this feature resolves the problem with slow file copy performance.

To disable Remote Differential Compression:

Click Start – Control Panel – Programs – Trun Windows features on or off

Uncheck “Remote Differential Compression” and click OK.

Restart the computer and you should see an improved performance with copying files.

telebog

I think your router is the limit, I have an old asus 54G (I think it is WL-520) and the max speed is 1MB/s, I tried other router and get 2MB/s. With 54g I doubt you will reach 2+MB/s

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How can I copy a big file from one Windows machine to another limiting speed transfer?