What are the file size limits?

This may be a dumb question, but I've looked for the answer on the wiki and couldn't find it.

I'm trying to host large (~6GB) video files for a small group of people to download. Yes, it's all legal, I shot and edited them myself. After I've uploaded them and try to access them from the web I get a "403 Forbidden" error that I don't get with a low resolution version of the same file.

I know that I can just set up an FTP account and do it that way, but is there a way to let people download them from HTTP?

All they really need is just a link to download. But if you want it to play in the browser, you may need to add some code. As windows internet explorer requires an object id code. You should find what you need in the DH wiki.
Also check your permissions on the subdirectory and your files.
Silk

I did create a very simple html page linking both the hi-res and the lo-res versions. The lo-res loaded without a problem, the high res gives me the 403 error.

I checked the permissions and they are exactly the same between the hi- and lo-res verions, and they are in the same directory. The only difference is the file size, which leads me to believe that DH prevents downloading of large files.

But thanks for your suggestions. As I said, I looked in the DH wiki, but either it's not there or I don't know what to search for. I searched for "large", "size", and "file", and checked the categories but I can't find anything that would relate to this problem, except a mention that DH does not allow bittorrents, which this is not.

Can you post a URL so that we can see for ourselves? I've never heard of any kind of download limit being imposed on DreamHost. The worst that could happen is that you'd have to cough up for extra bandwidth or something like that.

I wrote an article on the wiki that explains how to embed objects if you want to go beyond simple links.

This is the file that gives the 403:

http://www.malachiconstant.com/Songfight-Doc-hires.mov

Here's a lo-res version that works fine:

http://www.malachiconstant.com/Songfight-Doc-lores.mov

And here's a screenshot showing the permissions that are set:

http://img423.imageshack.us/img423/3671/ftpscreen0rp.gif

If it's not a file size problem, I don't know what it could be. That seems to be the only difference between the files. Thanks for your help.

Are you creating these movies on a Mac? I tried saving the file and opening it in Quicktime/WinXP, and I got the following error:

error -2048: the file is not a movie file

I've come across this error once before, when I was trying to save a movie trailer for later viewing. It turned out that the file wasn't saved as "self contained". The Quicktime software uses a Mac resource to "flatten" the file, and this file isn't available when you view it on a PC; therefore, the resource needs to be embedded in the movie file (hence "self contained"). It's a bit like embedding TrueType fonts in a Flash file or a Word Document.

Not being a Mac user, I cannot be sure about this because I have no way of testing the theory myself.

Are you referring to the low resolution file? Yes I am working on a mac. Several people have downloaded the low resolution file and had no problem playing it on a PC. It works on my PC as well.

I assume you're talking about the low-res file and not the hi-res which I have been unable to access.

No, I'm referring to the high-resolution file. Using a PC, I can right-click on the link you posted above, and select "Save link as..." or something similar. It enables me to download the file; however, the file is only 4 kilobytes in size (which obviously isn't true). It represents a pointer to the real file, which I cannot access.

Have you tried to download the file via ftp? I just tried right clicking on the high res file and permission is denied.
You may want to try another codec to see if you can get the file size down some, 6 gb seams a little high, how long is the video?
Silk

No luck on my Mac. Have you thought about creating a QuickTime Streaming server on Dreamhost? Users won't be able to download the movie, but they'll at least be able to view it.

-Scott

> Using a PC, I can right-click on the link you posted above, and select "Save link as..." or something similar. It enables me to download the file; however, the file is only 4 kilobytes in size (which obviously isn't true). It represents a pointer to the real file, which I cannot access.

If you open it up with notepad or some other text editor, you will see the file actually contains the HTML for the 403 error page, not a "pointer." :-)

MalachiC,

Any chance you've messed with .htaccess to prevent "theft?" Could you add a link to the hires file on your index page, so we could try it from there? I'm wondering if it's a Referrer issue with using a link not from your site, like here or copy/pasted into the browser. Edit: Nevermind that; the lores link works from here...

Good luck,

BobS

Have you tried to download the file via ftp?

Yes, it works fine over ftp, which is how I'll end up distributing it if I can't do it over the web. Only a small group of people will be downloading it, so that won't be much of a problem.

You may want to try another codec to see if you can get the file size down some, 6 gb seams a little high, how long is the video?

Yeah, I could encode it to MPEG-4 or DivX or something, but the point is that it is full quality, so I'm rather reluctant to do that. The video is about 30 minutes.

Have you thought about creating a QuickTime Streaming server on Dreamhost? Users won't be able to download the movie, but they'll at least be able to view it.

Yeah, but in this case I want people to be able to save it. They have the lo-res versions to view right now. I may use this option later on for other videos, though.

Any chance you've messed with .htaccess to prevent "theft?"

Nope. I just signed up recently and I haven't touched .htaccess.

Thanks for everyone's advice. If it comes down to it I can host it via ftp, I was just curious if there was some well-known rule DH had that was preventing this. If there is apparently no one has heard of it. Thanks for your help. I'll take this question to tech support.

Did you not try what I said about saving the file as "self contained"?

In reply to:

---

Did you not try what I said about saving the file as "self contained"?

---

I've had files that big do the same thing on DH. If it was self contained it would just download and be a 4 or 8 kb file.

wootindustries.com
Promo Code: WJD97 - $97.00 off any new DreamHost plan (except month-month payments).