HowTo: Get around file size limit in email

This document describes ways in which one might get a big file to someone else without using email and, thus, without running afoul of the file size limits our mail servers use.

Questions about this or any other IT matter should be directed to the IT HelpDesk.

Why not by email?

One of the more frequent questions that arrives at the Morehouse IT HelpDesk is "Can you let me email this huge file out?". If the mail server has said that the file is too large, then the answer is "no".

For starters, the limits are per-server, not per-user, so if we up the limit for one user, we must up it for all of them. That's not good.

The limits exist because sending large files by email is a hack: it is not part of the initial design of Internet email. Worse, files sent by email take up large amounts of room on mail relays, require lots of processing if they are to be scanned for viruses or spam content or the like, and can cause recipient email programs to break. It's a mess.

The limits sometimes change with the resources available to the mail system and/or with virus outbreaks, but they tend to hover around 10 megabytes. This is more or less in line with the limits at many other institutions, so even if you got the file past the Morehouse filter, it's likely it would bounce at the other end.

Workaround

The best way to send a file is to put it on a file server and have the recipient grab it at his or her convenience with a file transfer program, like a web browser. At Morehouse, every faculty/staff member has web space in which they can put files that then will be available on the web.

These files can be password-protected so that only those with the name/password can get to them, or they can simply be hidden so that only those who know where to find them can get to them. Hiding is sufficient for most purposes.

Directions on uploading a file to the web server are here. Upload the files, email the URL to the intended recipient, and that recipient can pull the files at will.