Creating a Spanned ZIP File
Sometimes traditional transfer methods are not available and an IT provider may need to provide a migration consultant with point-in-time snapshot of data / documents.
This article explains what you should do and what you shouldn't do.
Do Not Do These Things
These are bad ideas that you should avoid.
- Do not upload individual documents to an online storage location (OneDrive/Dropbox/etc)
- Individual and small files transfer slowly.
- If there is an issue, it is hard to detect which file the issue is with
- Many systems don't handle long path's correctly.
- Some systems may drop important metadata like created/modified dates.
- Do not upload one giant ZIP file to an online storge location
- This will take a long time to send
- If there is an issue uploading, the entire upload must be restarted
- If there is an issue downloading, the entire download must be restarted
Do This Instead: Create a "Spanned" Zip File
Please follow these instructions
A Spanned zip file one logical zip file that is "spanned" (spread) across multiple actual file parts.
This has the following advantages:
- Big files transfer fast
- Long Paths are not an issue
- Important metadata is preserved
- If there is an issue, the individual parts can be uploaded.
Creating a Spanned Zip File
First, ensure that 7ZIP is installed.
Then navigate to the folder you want to ZIP, right-click it, and select "Show More Options"
Then select 7ZIP -> Add to Archive
Set the Archive Format to 7z, the Volume Size to 1000MB and click OK:
Once the process is complete, you will have a number of files like this:
ALL of these files must be transferred to the recipient.