Uploading refers to ''transmitting''

data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpret ...

from one

computer system A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...

to another through means of a

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematic ...

. Common methods of uploading include: uploading via web browsers, FTP clients], and computer terminal, terminals ( SCP/ SFTP). Uploading can be used in the context of (potentially many) clients that send files to a central

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

. While uploading can also be defined in the context of sending files between distributed clients, such as with a

peer-to-peer Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network. They are said to form a peer-to-peer ...

(P2P) file-sharing

protocol Protocol may refer to: Sociology and politics * Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states * Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state * Etiquette, a code of personal behavior Science and technology ...

like BitTorrent, the term

file sharing File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include r ...

is more often used in this case. Moving files within a computer system, as opposed to over a network, is called

file copying In digital file management, copying is a file operation that creates a new file which has the same content as an existing file. Computer operating systems include file copying methods to users, with operating systems with graphical user interfa ...

. Uploading directly contrasts with downloading, where data is ''received'' over a network. In the case of users uploading files over the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

, uploading is often slower than downloading as many

internet service providers An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...

(ISPs) offer asymmetric connections, which offer more network bandwidth for downloading than uploading.

Definition

To transfer something (such as data or files), from a computer or other digital device to the

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remember ...

of another device (such as a larger or remote computer) especially via the internet.

Historical development

Remote

first came into fruition in January 1978, when Ward Christensen and Randy Suess, who were members of the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange (CACHE), created the Computerized Bulletin Board System (CBBS). This used an early file transfer protocol (MODEM, later XMODEM) to send

binary files A binary file is a computer file that is not a text file. The term "binary file" is often used as a term meaning "non-text file". Many binary file formats contain parts that can be interpreted as text; for example, some computer document file ...

via a hardware

modem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by modulating one or more c ...

, accessible by another modem via a

telephone number A telephone number is a sequence of digits assigned to a landline telephone subscriber station connected to a telephone line or to a wireless electronic telephony device, such as a radio telephone or a mobile telephone, or to other devices f ...

. In the following years, new protocols such as Kermit were released, until the

File Transfer Protocol The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and da ...

(FTP) was standardized 1985 (). FTP is based on

TCP/IP The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the set of communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the su ...

and gave rise to many

FTP clients The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of File Transfer Protocol (FTP) clients. Unless otherwise specified in footnotes, comparisons are based on the stable versions without any add-ons, extensions, or extern ...

, which, in turn, gave users all around the world access to the same standard

network protocol A communication protocol is a system of rules that allows two or more entities of a communications system to transmit information via any kind of variation of a physical quantity. The protocol defines the rules, syntax, semantics and synchroniza ...

to transfer data between devices. The transfer of data saw a significant increase in popularity after the release of the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...

in 1991, which, for the first time, allowed users who were not computer hobbyists to easily share files, directly from their web browser over

HTTP The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide We ...

Resumability of file transfers

Transfers became more reliable with the launch of HTTP/1.1 in 1997 (), which gave users the option to resume downloads that were interrupted, for instance due to unreliable connections. Before web browsers widely rolled out support, software programs like GetRight could be used to resume downloads. Resuming uploads is not currently supported by HTTP, but can be added with the Tus open protocol for resumable file uploads, which layers resumability of uploads on top of existing HTTP connections.

Types of uploading

Client-to-server uploading

Transmitting a local file to a remote system following the

client–server model The client–server model is a distributed application structure that partitions tasks or workloads between the providers of a resource or service, called servers, and service requesters, called clients. Often clients and servers communicate ov ...

, e.g., a web browser transferring a video to a website, is called client-to-server uploading.

Remote uploading

Transferring data from one

remote system Remote administration refers to any method of controlling a computer from a remote location. Software that allows remote administration is becoming increasingly common and is often used when it is difficult or impractical to be physically near a ...

to another remote system under the control of a local system is called remote uploading or site-to-site transferring. This is used when a local computer has a slow connection to the remote systems, but these systems have a fast connection between them. Without remote uploading functionality, the data would have to first be downloaded to the local system and then uploaded to the remote server, both times over a slower connection. Remote uploading is used by some online file hosting services. Another example can be found in FTP clients, which often support the File eXchange Protocol (FXP) in order to instruct two FTP servers with high-speed connections to exchange files. A web-based example is the Uppy file uploader that can transfer files from a user's

cloud storage Cloud storage is a model of computer data storage in which the digital data is stored in logical pools, said to be on "the cloud". The physical storage spans multiple servers (sometimes in multiple locations), and the physical environment is ty ...

such as Dropbox, directly to a website without first going to the user's device.

Peer-to-peer

Peer-to-peer (P2P) is a decentralized communications model in which each party has the same capabilities, and either party can initiate a communication session. Unlike the client–server model, in which the client makes a service request and the server fulfils the request (by sending or accepting a file transfer), the P2P network model allows each

node In general, a node is a localized swelling (a " knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics * Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph * Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, line ...

to function as both client and server. BitTorrent is an example of this, as is the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). Peer-to-peer allows users to both ''receive'' (download) and ''host'' (upload) content. Files are transferred directly between the users' computers. The same file transfer constitutes an upload for one party, and a download for the other party.

Copyright issues

The rising popularity of file sharing during the 1990s culminated in the emergence of

Napster Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application. It originally launched on June 1, 1999, with an emphasis on digital audio file distribution. Audio songs shared on the service were typically encoded in the MP3 format. It was founded by Sha ...

, a music-sharing platform specialized in

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

files that used peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing technology to allow users exchange files freely. The P2P nature meant there was no central gatekeeper for the content, which eventually led to the widespread availability of copyrighted material through Napster. The

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

(RIAA) took notice of Napster's ability to distribute copyrighted music among its user base, and, on December 6, 1999, filed a

motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and m ...

for a

preliminary injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in p ...

in order to stop the exchange of copyrighted songs on the service. After a failed appeal by Napster, the injunction was granted on March 5, 2001. On September 24, 2001, Napster, which had already shut down its entire network two months earlier, agreed to pay a $26 million dollar settlement. After Napster had ceased operations, many other P2P file-sharing services followed in its wake, such as Limewire, Kazaa and Popcorn Time. Besides software programs, there were many BitTorrent websites that allowed files to be indexed and searched. These files could then be downloaded via a BitTorrent client. While the BitTorrent protocol itself is legal and agnostic of the type of content shared, many of the services that did not enforce a strict policy to take down copyrighted material would eventually also run into legal difficulties.

References

External links

{{commons category, SVG upload icons
An All Too-Brief History of File Sharing
Computer networking Data transmission Network file transfer protocols Servers (computing)