Large file upload script?

[Mikalee]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could direct me to an upload script (php) that can handle large viedo (mpeg/mov/avi) uploads (50-150 mb)? Free would be great, but quality/speed is also important. Automatic conversion is not necessary.

I searched and looked around, but didn't find good reviews, just descriptions...and thought maybe others have had experience with some tools.

Thanks in advance.

[jason]

The bottleneck of file uploading is the browser. PHP can handle any size file upload (you just need to set your upload_max_filesize and post_max_size configuration directives [in php.ini] high enough to accommmodate the size of the file).

The HTTP protocol was not designed for uploading large files through forms, however, so browser-based uploads don't always work well. There are several Java applet uploaders that I've seen that can help you move files to the server. They usually transfer the files by something other than HTTP (like FTP) to increase speed. You then have to write code (in PHP ofr whatever) that figures out where those files were placed and retrieve them that way instead of using the normal methods you'd use for a form-based upload ($_FILES, etc).

Google for Flash Upload component and Java Upload applet and you'll find quite a bit. Unfortunately I don't have any good links available to me at the moment. I think I have a couple of sites bookmarked on another computer.

--Jason

[Gwaihir]

As Jason say, HTTP isn't for large files, so quality is a problem there. Moving files that size via HTTP, a sizeable percentage of uploads will go wrong somewhere halfway through. They'll either get you corrupt files or will have to restart from scratch.

Speed may well be a bottle neck too. Not due to the script you're using but because of your client's connection. Most people's home internet connections are far from synchronous. The download speed (from your server to them) is often 10 to 20 times more than the upload speed (from them to your server). This means that a) uploading simply takes a while b) clients may well abort themselves thinking something is wrong.

[Roosat21]

How did you get on? did you manage to find anything that works?

As i am attempting to do the same, any help/advice would be appeciated

[olokiop]

A link to a conversion script would also be nice!

I've been looking for a way to convert and resize images before storage but haven't found anything yet. I found a few sites that do it but the devs are scarily quiet!

[Vin DSL]

I've been looking for a way to convert and resize images before storage but haven't found anything yet...

I use a proggie (locally) called Paint Shop Pro 7. You wouldn't believe how good it shrinks images!

Um...

This is what you want to do, yes?

[olokiop]

Yes, but I'd rather have the server do it to images users upload via a webpage. If I had to edit 15000 images daily my mouse finger would fall off!

[jason]

I sometimes use a program called Easy Thumbnails for quick and dirty image resizing on the client side. It lets you resize an entire image directory with one click.

It doesn't always do as nice a job as I could do if I manually resized each photo in Photoshop, but like I said, it is quick and dirty. It gets the job done in most cases.

--Jason

[Mikalee]

How did you get on? did you manage to find anything that works?

As i am attempting to do the same, any help/advice would be appeciated

Sorry...I didn't. I found a few Java apps like Jason mentioned, but (with the limited time I spent on them) didn't like them much as I still needed to set up FTP accounts for the people using the app (or one account they can all use) rather than the site authentication (albeit, there must be a good combination of the two that would do the trick).

Now I need this functionality again, but I really want to be in web form. My big question is, how do sites like youtube & yousendit handle the huge uploads? I assume it's through HTTP?? Are they able to simply due to the server horsepower they have?

[jason]

IIRC, YouTube used to use HTTP-based uploads, but now they are using a Flash movie to do it, so they could be doing the actual transfer with just about any transport protocol: HTTP, FTP, teleportation, whatever.

HTTP file uploads used to be a big problem--servers would time out before the entire request came through and whatnot--but I think that now, with better backbones and broadband connections, its getting a little better. I still wouldn't trust it for really large files, but f you're talking 10-20 Mb max you'll probably be fine.

The big issue with HTTP uploads is that you have to specify one file at a time in a web form. When uploading a gallery of images this can be time consuming. There are several Java and a few Flash upload components around (some free) to help you manage multiple file uploads. Search for "Java file upload" or "Flash file upload" and see what you find.

You can also have your users zip their files up before uploading and then they'll just have to upload a single file. It isn't difficult to unzip a zip file on the server, assuming the proper software is available on it.

--Jason

[Mikalee]

Thanks Jason.

Right now, I'm not concerned with uploading multiple files. What I really need is a way to upload large video files (50-150mb) through the site. Forms are ideal since they're already within the site authentication. I'll look into the flash/java upload components again, but if there was any way to do it via a form (even if it means getting a dedicated server), I'd really prefer that. Unless I can figure out a way to seamlessly embed the java/flash uploader within a form and use the site's authentication...if anyone else has done something like I'd love to hear your opinions. It seems that there are LOT of sites (albeit, very big sites such as all the video hosting sites, yousendit, etc) out there that do this, I don't know why I can't...

[Ron]

Whatever method you use to upload the files, make the page and the components reside in a directory that requires the site authentication. If the component requires an ftp login, you could feed it or pre-seed it with a common account. Would that work for you?

[Mikalee]

Whatever method you use to upload the files, make the page and the components reside in a directory that requires the site authentication. If the component requires an ftp login, you could feed it or pre-seed it with a common account. Would that work for you?

Not sure, that's what I'm experimenting with right now...I also found this article which discusses uploading with PHP via FTP - which seems like it might be a good solution, what do you think:

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com...3-6069684.html

[jason]

In the example you posted the autor is still using HTTP to get the file to a web server. Once he gets the file on the web server he uses PHP to move it to an FTP server. It doesn't solve your problem of avoiding PHP.

Here's an idea I had for using a Flash or Java based upload system, similar to the way YouTube works:

SETUP
-----
1. Create a new FTP account that your web-based uploader (Java/Flash) will use.
2. Create the Java/Flash component (or use an existing one from the web). Configure the client to use the FTP account you just created.

USER
----
1. The user authenticates to the site.
2. The user fills out a form with information about the upload. In the YouTube case this includes the movie's title, description, category, etc.
3. Behind the scenes, you assign a unique identifier for the incoming file(s) and create a folder using that unique id as the name in the previously created FTP account's directory.
4. Send the user to a new page containing the upload component. Pass the component the unique id to use as its upload path.
5. The user chooses the file(s) on his computer and uploads them. When the upload is done the component involks a script on the server side to process the file(s) however you need to do it (probably by calling a URL...). When it gets notified that the processing is done it redirects the user to a "upload successful" page.

It sound scomplicated, but really isn't too bad.

--Jason

[Mikalee]

Thanks again Jason, I'm trying it out...

But, I can't seem to find any flash upload components that use FTP to do the transfer. And I asked from a few Flash developers if they knew about it and they said as far as they know it's only possible via HTTP...so we're back at square one (as I'd really rather not use an applet). Is there any reason to believe Flash based HTTP uploads for large files would be more successful than html form/script based uploads??

Thank you