Sending a 5 GB video file might seem simple. You select the file, click Upload, wait for the progress bar to finish, and share a link with someone. But there are several things happening in the background while the file is being uploaded.
The file has to travel across a network, reach a server, and be stored somewhere before another person can download it. The service also needs to make sure that the recipient can access the file without accessing the sender's account. If the internet connection drops halfway through the upload, it needs a way to continue without sending the entire file again.
File transfer services use HTTP requests, storage systems, databases, encryption, and background processes to manage these tasks. But how does a website actually handle a file that's several gigabytes in size? Does it upload everything in one request? Where does the file go after the upload finishes? And what happens when its download link expires?
In this article, we'll look at how file transfer services handle large uploads, store files, generate download links, and manage interrupted connections and expired transfers. Then, once you understand the theory behind how it all works, we'll also build a basic chunked file uploader using Node.js to see some of these processes in action.
Source: freeCodeCamp News — Read the full article on the original site ↗