What's the best (i.e. cheap, easy, secure) way to swap large files with my clients?
 

I have a couple of clients who have very large Quickbooks files that we need to exchange periodically. What's the best way to do this?

USB jump drives are pretty disposable now a days.

Oh... and some live up to 45 minutes away from me.

How big is big?

Secure FTP server would be my choice.

Bob

Dropbox - Home - Online backup, file sync and sharing made easy. Mac and Winblows clients and it is very easy to use. There is a free account with 2GB of storage.

ftp site.

The other challenge is that my clients might now want to sign up for an online service and certainly won't be willing to pay anything.

If your clients are classic SMB folks, they probably have an Internet connection with only 384Kb upload speed. That and large files are painful at best. So, IMHO, a thumb drive or USB extyernal drive is your best option.

+ 1 on FTP site.

We use FTP to send gigs.
Compressed or no.

Easy breezy lemon squeezy.

I doubt that a QB file could really be THAT huge. Something like dropbox would be my vote. It's free up to 2GB storage or so.

We use ftp with our clients to exchange files that are 500mb-5GB+ but that requires having a server and someone to setup and manage it.

I use cyberlynk.net and it costs 12.99/month. My clients can use any program they want to access it and download large product photography photos no problem. Or I coulda just said ftp.

$10 per month.

File Sharing and Transfer. Instant, Easy-to-use FTP site from Egnyte

secure??

HOW secure?

I picked up an Iomega 2TB Raid NAS, which will allow external FTP, just like my old Buffalo Linkstation. Setup is pretty easy, with only 2 settings to be changed on the router. And with DynDNS, it will be easy to use. $259, for a 2TB (1TB in Raid 1 mode) system.

Alternatively, how about this ?

agree, FTP works best, that's what I use and I love it.
I can send a client a "link" and its simple, easy, quick and costs me nothing.

I had an architect that used this service too LINK