In the past, I have used a USB to transfer a few video files from one computer to another. This time I have over 1 terabyte of movies and shows I’d like to transfer. What is the best method?

I know it will take a very long time

  • @WikiBoxB
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    17 months ago

    USB 3.1 Gen2 is hard to beat. 10Gbps. But for HDDs the HDDs themselves will be the bottleneck. For sustained file transfers, perhaps no more than up to 3Gbps, even if installed in the same PC. Good SATA SSDs may manage closer to 6Gbps. NVMe SSDs are likely to saturate USB 3.1 Gen2. Then PCI-e directly between installed drives is the fastest. Normal cabled network is only 1Gbps.

    File transfers to/from external multibay USB DAS can be done in parallel, involving multiple HDDs, and come close to saturating 10Gbps USB3.1 Gen2 speeds.

    Then there is thunderbolt.

    Start a rsync transfer when you go to bed. In the morning it will most likely be done.