Upload notes

Upload advice

1. How long does it take to upload files? 

   This will mostly depend on your Internet connection, and may also vary due to the time of day. You should also understand that uploading files is normally much slower than downloading, (see note about broadband speeds below).

   For a typical domestic ADSL/broadband connection, you should expect to upload a few megabytes per minute.

2. Multiple files

   If you have a large number of smaller files, we do suggest that you use an archiving program such as WinZip, StuffIt or Tar to convert your files to a single archive. This will decrease overall size and simplify your upload.

   For works such as websites and software applications, which often span multiple directories, this is especially important, and as this will also preserve the directory structure of the files.

   For more details, please see our instructions on how to create zip archive files.

3. Power management settings 

   Ensure that any power management options you have set will not interfere with your upload. Uploading files is not recognised as activity and your computer’s power management system may take your system to standby or hibernation, if this happens, the upload will stop and cause the session to timeout.

   You can avoid this situation by ensuring that neither standby or hibernate will be entered during the upload time.

4. Dial-up connections 

   If you are on a dial-up connection, it is best to start uploading soon after you dial up, as some providers have a time limit on connections.

5. Audio Files 

   If you are uploading audio files, there is an audio files advice page with tips for uploading these types of files.

Notes about uploading larger files

Our systems have a 4GB (4096MB) limit per file. Please note that this is per file limit only, and registrations containing data over 4GB can be achieved by uploading several files within a single registration. The maximum per online submission is 20GB.

Some browsers will take a long time to start the upload, and many browsers appear to cache the data before transmission. As a result you may experience a significant decrease in the performance of your system during large uploads.

At these larger sizes, uploads are likely to take some considerable time, (i.e. several hours), to monitor progress, you may want to check your network activity to see how much data your computer is sending.

If you have files which are above 4GB you should split your files into smaller chunks before uploading (perhaps using an archiving program like WinRar or Rar or the Split utility on Unix systems).

As mentioned below most Internet links are ‘asymmetric’ and have limited upload capacity; typically a few MB per minute. If you have a large amount of data (i.e. 500MB and over) to submit, then unless you have a fast Internet link (such as a symmetrical leased line, or fibre to the premises) you may find it easier to submit your work on a DVD or Blu-ray disc with a postal application form.

Additional confirmation of upload

Due to the design of our systems and the design of the underlying network protocols used there is no need to check that the files have been correctly uploaded, as any loss or corruption of data in transit will result in an error being shown (typically you will have the option to restart the upload of an affected file if this occurs).

We do however also supply an SHA256 checksum of the file for those who wish to have an additional check for peace of mind. To view the checksum, simply click on the file in the list of uploaded files and additional details, including the SHA256 checksum, will be displayed.

• What is a SHA256 checksum and how do I use it?
  A SHA256 checksum is calculated by reading the contents of a file and passing it through an algorithm that outputs a single hexadecimal number. Should the contents/size of the file be different in any way, the checksum will also be different. Even a very small change in a file will result in a very different checksum.
   
  • Checking SHA256 checksums on Microsoft Windows
    Open up the Windows command prompt and navigate to the file location, then type the following command:
    certutil -hashfile filename SHA256
    where 'filename' is the name of the file you want to check.
    
    Or, if you have Windows PowerShell installed, you can do the same from there, using this command instead:
    Get-FileHash -Path filename -Algorithm SHA256
     
  • Checking SHA256 checksums Mac OS or Unix/Linux
    Launch a terminal and from the command line type in:
    shasum -a 256 filename
    where 'filename' is the name of the file you want to check.

Your security

1. Security of payment details

   Card details are sent to our payment service providers over highly secure 256bit encrypted direct connections. Card details are never stored or transmitted in a unencrypted format. We are PCI-DSS compliant ourselves and the payment service providers we use are regularly audited by Visa and MasterCard to ensure that their systems conform to the latest security standards.

2. Upload security

   When you upload files, you are uploading directly to our servers over an 256bit encrypted, secure connection, so the security and integrity of the files you transmit is assured.

3. Security of other data and information

   All data you enter is transmitted over a 256bit encrypted, secure connection, that directly connects your computer to and one of our servers.

   Our servers are self hosted, so we do not rely on any third party to store or transmit your personal data. This provides absolute security for the data you transfer, and ensures that only authorised personnel have access to your data after upload.

A note about cable/ADSL broadband speeds

Your Internet provider will typically quote figures like 50Mbps or 100Mbps when they are selling their product. This does not mean that you can upload at that speed. Most domestic and commercial broadband users will have an asymmetric link, (the ‘A‘ in ADSL stands for ‘asymmetric’), with the download speed being much faster (sometimes as much as 10 times faster) than the upload speed.

You should also bear in mind that line speeds are measured in 'bits' (e.g. megabits), whilst file size is measure in bytes (e.g. megabytes).  A byte is 8 bits.