FTP upload errors

[#1]

Hi,

I working on a website and I am trying to upload a large backup .zip file onto my website via FTP. Unfortunately, the upload keeps stopping around 160mb and re-starting again from the beginning.

The web hosting company has changed the settings to allow for a large file, but I can’t get the file uploaded. I’ve been for 4 days now...

Do you think this is a problem with my Plusnet settings/Router?

[#2]

unlikely.
more likely that the host server has a time out and you're reaching it due to your upload speed.

[#3]

Thanks for your reply.

The host server has been changed to allow me a 90 minute connection and 5GB file upload. I can't seem to get past about 150mb before the FTP software stalls and the upload starts again from scratch.

I have tried 4 different FTP clients but they all behave the same, so it must be something else.

[#4]

how long does it take you to get to 150MB ?
it sounds like your connection is terminating hence why it is starting again.

[#5]

The upload gets to 150MB pretty quick. 10 minutes or so. 

It did once get to 600mb, but no further. The file I am trying to upload is 4GB.

[#6]

So in half an hour, your predicted upload would be 450Mb. You have a 90 minute window... so thats less than 1.5Gb of the 4Gb you're trying to upload.

Personally if it were me, I'd quit while I was ahead or split the file into smaller parts and upload them individually. If there is an onboard webserver that you can run scripts from them you might be able to join them back together with php but you'll probably cause a fair bit of CPU usage doing it.

[#7]

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@chenks76 wrote:
how long does it take you to get to 150MB ?
it sounds like your connection is terminating hence why it is starting again.

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From memory, FTP has an idle timeout where if no commands are sent (irrespective of file data) so if the upload is left alone for 10 minutes with not so much as a directory listing request... well yeah thats idle activity.

It would be nice if the op tells us if the FTP connection itself is broken or if it just starts over.

[#8]

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@Catweasel wrote:

The upload gets to 150MB pretty quick. 10 minutes or so. 

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So thats what.. 15Mb a minute when I think about it which is pretty slow. I don't know what your upload speed via plusnet is but have you thought about trying via your phone? - assuming you have enough data and 4G?

I get horrendous upload speeds via PN but via my phone I can get 18Mb/sec. Granted I've never tried FTP like that just the bog standard speedtest.net app but its something you might want to consider.

[#9]

If the backup file doesn't need to be locally manipulated on/by the server (i.e. it just needs to sit there for later retrieval) then split the zip file into smaller chunks and upload each individually. This will make for a much more reliable upload (and later download for that matter) and not have any negative impact on the backup.

Alternatively, and far less preferable, ask your host if they support the REST (restart) command and, if they do, use an FTP client that does also. This will allow subsequent uploads to continue from where the last one stopped.

[#10]

Thanks for your replies.

The file needs to go over in one chunk, as I a restoring a large website via a script run on the server. I left it going overnight and at one point was at 1.6GB, but then stalled and went back to the beginning.

If I unzip the files they upload OK without interuption, so I think you're right about the FTP client seeing inactivity in the large .zip file upload.

I think I have determined it is not a PlusNet/Router issue, so I'll go back to square one and hassle the Hosting company.

Thanks for your advice. 

[#11]

But even with 90 minutes you still won't get the entire 4gb uploaded going by your 10 minute upload. You need to get a longer window.

[#12]

Does your hosting provider support any other form of file transfer / access? Rsync would be a far better protocol to use as it allows seamless continuation of existing transfers if required (and a whole bunch of other features besides).