Copying big files on remote server with C#

Question

I am trying to transfer large files (5gb~50gb) on my server from to my external harddisk using windows application C#.

Code used to transfer the files:

    public void CopyFile(string source, string dest)
    {
        using (FileStream sourceStream = new FileStream(source, FileMode.Open))
        {
            byte[] buffer = new byte[64 * 1024]; // Change to suitable size after testing performance
            using (FileStream destStream = new FileStream(dest, FileMode.Create))
            {
                int i;
                while ((i = sourceStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0)
                {
                    destStream.Write(buffer, 0, i);
                    //OnProgress(sourceStream.Position, sourceStream.Length);
                }
            }
        }
    }

But the problem with this code is that when the application runs, my application would just hang there (although file still transfers at a slow speed)

Is there a better method for copying large files from the remote server?

You know about `File.Copy` right? Not that it will help with this issue, but you don't need to reimplement it :) — Blorgbeard, Jan 09 '14 at 01:21
Anyway, I'd suggest looking at doing the copy in a BackgroundWorker or Thread. — Blorgbeard, Jan 09 '14 at 01:22
What version of .NET are you using for this and in what type (WPF, WinForms, ASP.NET, Console) of application is this running in? — siva.k, Jan 09 '14 at 01:23
Check out http://stackoverflow.com/questions/882686/asynchronous-file-copy-move-in-c-sharp If you don't want your app to "hang" you will need to make it do something else while it is busy moving your bits, like report progress. — brianfeucht, Jan 09 '14 at 01:23
@Blorgbeard File.Copy hangs the application too, tried it before got worst results. I will look into threads, thanks — Bloopie Bloops, Jan 09 '14 at 01:27

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 09 '14 at 01:28

1

You should do that operation in separate thread instead of the current main application thread because this is a blocking operation and your application will block until the transfer has finished. Have a look at the BackgroundWorker, it runs on a separate thread and you can send progress report back to the main thread which comes in handy and you could even implement progress bar.

answered Jan 09 '14 at 01:28

Leo

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Thanks for the quick explaination. I guess BackgroundWorker is the way to go. Will try and get back to you – Bloopie Bloops Jan 09 '14 at 01:33
Worked flawlessly, just a quick question, if I run this process twice, will it has 2 background task? – Bloopie Bloops Jan 09 '14 at 01:54
1

I'm not too sure how you are doing it, but you can have more than one `BackgroundWorker`s running – Leo Jan 09 '14 at 01:58

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 09 '14 at 01:28

0

If you're doing winforms, put this in your WHILE loop:

Application.DoEvents();

It won't block (freeze) any more.

answered Jan 09 '14 at 01:28

Xavier J

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Im using a for and foreach loop, it still hangs. Am i putting it in the wrong place? (I put it at the start of the loop) – Bloopie Bloops Jan 09 '14 at 01:32
while ((i = sourceStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0) { Application.DoEvents(); //here!!! destStream.Write(buffer, 0, i); //OnProgress(sourceStream.Position, sourceStream.Length); } – Xavier J Jan 09 '14 at 01:33

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 09 '14 at 15:57

0

Checkout BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service):

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa363160(v=vs.85).aspx

answered Jan 09 '14 at 15:57

rheitzman

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Copying big files on remote server with C#

3 Answers3