HTTP and HTTPS File Transfer
More files move over HTTP and HTTPS than over every classic transfer protocol combined — every browser upload, API call, and cloud-storage operation rides the web's protocol. For administrators, HTTPS transfer is the client-less option: nothing to install, nothing to configure on the far end, just a link that works.
This series covers the web path properly: what actually happens during an upload, the curl and wget patterns worth keeping, how presigned URLs grant temporary access without accounts, strategies for large files on flaky connections, and an honest comparison of when HTTPS beats SFTP — and when it doesn't.
Articles in This Series
- How File Upload Works on the Web: Multipart, PUT, and Chunks
What the browser actually sends, size limits at every layer, and where uploads fail. - curl and wget for File Transfer: The Admin's Cookbook
Auth, resume, retries — twenty worked one-liners. - Presigned URLs: Temporary, Credential-Free Transfer Explained
How signing works, its security limits, and the use cases where it shines. - Large Files Over HTTP: Resumable and Chunked Upload Strategies
Range requests, chunking, integrity, and designing for flaky connections. - When HTTPS Beats SFTP: Choosing Web-Based Transfer
The client-less advantage, what you give up, and a decision matrix. - Building a Safe Internal File-Drop Over HTTPS
The DIY drop point done responsibly — and where DIY should stop. - Files Over REST APIs: Designing and Consuming File Endpoints
Upload/download patterns, streaming vs buffering, and scripting third-party APIs.
Explore More Topics
This series is part of the Sysax file transfer topic library, which covers the protocols, security practices, automation techniques, and operational skills behind reliable file transfer. The library pairs well with the practical tools we build: Sysax Multi Server, a secure FTP, FTPS, SFTP, and HTTPS server for Windows, and Sysax FTP Automation, which schedules and scripts secure transfers so the routine ones run themselves.