We’ve all been in this situation before: Our design team has completed drawings for a project and you now need to share them with members of the extended design team. Unfortunately, CAD files these days are often too large to be sent via standard e-mail. So now you’re forced to hassle with FTP sites, or even more inconvenient, burning the files to a DVD and sending via mail. It sure would be nice if there was an easy-to-use, free (or low-cost) way to send large files. Luckily, there are several options from which to choose.

The first is Box.net, a free service that I use on a regular basis. Box.net acts a lot like your internal servers, letting you create folders and subfolders and grant various access rights (read only, read/write, et cetera) to different team members. The free version provides 15GB of storage, with a maximum file size of 1GB. In addition to file and folder sharing, box.net lets you add discussions to folders, tag folders with key words, embed links to the folders on your websites, and more. Box.net extends its project collaboration features by letting users create and share “web documents,” which are shared text documents. Learn more at www.box.net.

YouSendIt.com is another free file-sharing service. Sending a file via YouSendIt is a lot like sending an e-mail: enter the recipient’s e-mail address, an optional subject, and body text, and attach the file. The recipient then receives an e-mail with a link to download the file (as large as 100MB). The service also includes a contacts option to store information for your colleagues. Paid versions of the service increase the maximum file size and provide additional options such as added technical support. Try it at www.yousendit.com.

Another option for sharing files lets you keep large files and folders synchronized across several computers by uploading selected files to the “cloud.” With SugarSync (www.sugarsync.com), any time you create a new file or modify an existing file, SugarSync will immediately upload the file to the SugarSync cloud, where your files are stored securely. The service requires installation of a small application on each computer you wish to synchronize. SugarSync then automatically creates a folder called Magic Briefcase inside your My Documents folder. Files placed in this folder are automatically synced to all of your computers if they have SugarSync Manager installed. Once you’ve added folders, you can create public links to specific files, which you can share with your colleagues.

Similar to SugarSync, DropBox is a free service that lets you synchronize files and folders across multiple computers, including mobile devices, and share these files with your extended team. The free version provides 2GB of storage and lets you share files of any size. The service works across multiple operating systems, including Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. When files are added to DropBox, changes made by one team member are automatically reflected on other users’ computers. In addition to storing local copies, DropBox also keeps a copy online, so you always have access to shared files. DropBox can be found online at www.dropbox.com.

Another service that I use regularly is Google Apps. Maybe you’ve heard of Google’s ongoing efforts to permeate all aspects of computing, online office productivity software. As part of its Apps offering, you can create and store documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and more online. Recently, Google expanded the functionality to allow uploading and sharing of almost any file type, including large CAD files. Once uploaded, you can share the files with other users. The free version of Google Apps (www.google.com/a) gives you 1GB of storage and lets you upload files as large as 1GB.

There are several other options available for sharing large files. The website LifeHacker recently listed the Top 5 Online File Sharing Services. In addition to DropBox, it also lists Drop.io, MediaFire, MegaUpload, and RapidShare. You can read full reviews and find download links here: http://tinyurl.com/yd3seze.

How are you sharing large files? Are you using any of the services listed here? Do you have a favorite? Please share your thoughts with me.

Mark J. Scacco, P.E., is the president and founder of Engineered Efficiency, Inc., a nationwide BIM and CAD training and consulting firm. He appreciates your feedback at mark.scacco@eng-eff.com.