WTF How long to FTP a game to a p.c.! What's your record?

[mattydread]

Hi all,

Since sorting out my xbox so i can ftp using flashfxp i have begun backing up my games.

So far i have done 2,

The 1st one took about 45 mins to transfer approximately 3gb , which i thought was reasonable

The second one took a whopping 12hrs, Still only transferring just under 4 gb.

However i did notice that it transferred approx. 15000 files and think that it was the sheer number of files that caused the lengthy transfer not the volume of data. The actual transfer part of the majority of files was taking a split second whereas the bit in between (locating next file, establishing connection, setting up file name on p.c) was taking way longer.

So here are the questions i pose to you to gauge opinion

1. What would be a true reflection of average transfer time?
2. What has been your longest transfer.
3. Did something go wrong with my second transfer?

Cheers

 

[manu_xl]

i have an average speed of 6000kbs when transferring through ftp

 

[fixitman]

My transfers average around 9.5 Mb to 10 Mbit using a pair of 10/100 switches (one in the computer room, one in the living room). It usually takes less than 5 minutes to transfer a full game backup from PC to XBOX.

 

[fjbm97]

it also depends in the number of files that the game got and the size of each one....

 

[kowrip]

it also depends in the number of files that the game got and the size of each one....

Exactly. On average, it'll take around 10 minutes for a game. However, certain games like "Star Wars : Knights Of The Old Republic" have so many small files that they can (and DO) take HOURS to transfer.

 

[mattydread]

ahhhhh just what i thought i was wondering if someone would mention the actual game that took me ages, it was in fact KOTOR, which is made up of 1000's if not over 10000 of very small (typically 100kb or less) WMA files.

What are these WMA's for......after 6 hours i was beginning to think these pissy little files are there as a deliberate attempt to prevent exactly what i was trying to achieve?

 

[kowrip]

ahhhhh just what i thought i was wondering if someone would mention the actual game that took me ages, it was in fact KOTOR, which is made up of 1000's if not over 10000 of very small (typically 100kb or less) WMA files.

What are these WMA's for......after 6 hours i was beginning to think these pissy little files are there as a deliberate attempt to prevent exactly what i was trying to achieve?

I guess it's a good idea to take a look at the number and size of files. If it's anything like the KOTOR games, plan to let it go overnight. If I remember correctly, a friend of mine also had a ridiculously long transfer with "World Championship Pool".

 

[fixitman]

You've obviously got some serious bottlenecks in your network if it takes overnight to transfer KOTOR 1 or 2 (PC to XBOX). All those small files do slow things down a bit, but it still shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes

 

[Dinh]

I managed to spit out 11,000kbps. Just boot to your X3 bios and ftp fomr there, major speed boost.

Backing up THUG2 took 20 mins.. too many small files.

 

[Xecuter]

i get 11,000kbps on average

most games take between 5 and 15 minutes

 

[RealestDeMo]

Wow, X3 makes FTP transfers faster... Add that to my list of great features of the X3
I get roughly 7000kbps thru EvoX

 

[kowrip]

You've obviously got some serious bottlenecks in your network if it takes overnight to transfer KOTOR 1 or 2 (PC to XBOX). All those small files do slow things down a bit, but it still shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes

I don't think so. I've done this with 100Mb/s network cards. Most games take like 10-15 minutes, but on either KOTOR game, it slows down tremendously. Did you ever try it ? KOTOR 2 took over 2 hours when I did it !

 

[fixitman]

I know it doesen't take overnight through my network, but I'm not certain how fast it actually is.

1005 EST:
I just started a transfer from xbox to pc. I'll edit this reply when that is done, then transfer it back from pc to xbox. Once the second is done, I'll edit again.

 

[fixitman]

I didn't realize editing was turned off after a certain time, so I just waited to post my results. All KotOR 2 transfers were done with Avalaunch as my dashboard.

XBOX to PC using SmartFTP(file to file):
Total file count: 19255
Total transfer time: 1h 22m 27s
Total amount transferred: 3.79G
Average speed: 766 kilobytes/sec (approx)

No doubt about it, this thing takes a very long time transferring with a standard FTP client. It certainly didn't take "overnite", but it was definately not "10-15 minutes" as I stated either. I guess this is to be expected with an average file size around 200 kilobytes

PC to XBOX using Quix(ISO to file):
Total file count: 19255
Total transfer time: 7m 42s
Total amount transferred: 3993783 KB
Average speed: 8626 KB/s

When I purchased KotOR 2, I did what I do with all my games - I copied it to my XBOX HDD, tested it, then archived an ISO on my PC. I changed out my XBOX HDD a couple weeks afterwards, and used Quix to upload the ISO to the new one. My reply about the "network bottleneck" was based on that transfer because I never bothered using straight FTP on this particular game.

I hope this clears up my comments

 

[ModDoc]

technically, your PC - Xbox transfer test wasn't 19,255 files though, was it? Just one ISO file....

 

[fjbm97]

I should bye an X3... NO doubt about this!!

 

[kowrip]

No doubt about it, this thing takes a very long time transferring with a standard FTP client. It certainly didn't take "overnite", but it was definately not "10-15 minutes" as I stated either. I guess this is to be expected with an average file size around 200 kilobytes

Mine didn't take "overnight" either. It took about 2 hours using WS FTP Pro. I only suggested to let your FTP go overnight if you have several games with this type of file layout. Clearly, your 1 hour 20 minute transfer time shows that my long transfer time was not due to a network bottleneck.

 

[fixitman]

technically, your PC - Xbox transfer test wasn't 19,255 files though, was it? Just one ISO file....

I have no idea how Quix actually works, all I can go by is the final result window. It started as an ISO on my PC, and ended up as 19,255 files on my XBOX. The final result is the same as standard FTP, but they are achieved much faster with Quix.

....Clearly, your 1 hour 20 minute transfer time shows that my long transfer time was not due to a network bottleneck.

Nope, definately not a bottleneck. The slowdown occurs in the FTP client, rather than the network. It would appear that this is perfectly normal behavior for an FTP client though. The only alternative I can see is to use Quix/Ava for game transfers. It will certainly save time, even if you have to make an ISO with Quix first.

 

[XCronus]

are all of you using a router, or a crossover cable?

this would clear up the possibility of the router causing a bottleneck slowdown

try it

 

[Dinh]

Also, the settings in your pc can make a difference.