ZendTo provides the capability to send large files in a secure manner. Email is not designed for the transmission of large files and most email services impose limits on the size of attachments.

Access ZendTo via your browser at   https://zendto.rice.edu/

• Rice users are allowed to send a drop-off to anyone, whether they are a Rice or non-Rice user.
• A non-Rice user is only allowed to send a drop-off to a Rice user.

A drop-off is a file or a set of files that are uploaded to ZendTo as a single item for delivery to one or more people. 

There are several ways you can drop off multiple files at once:

• Drag-and-drop multiple files at once onto the drop-off page
• Click on the "Add Files" button on the drop-off page, and select 1 or more files at once using combinations of click, Shift+click, and Ctrl+click (Cmd+click on a Mac)
• Archive and compress the files into a single package and attach the resulting archive file on the drop-off page. There are many ways to archive and compress files:
  • Mac users can select the files in the Finder and "Compress" (either by right-clicking and selecting “compress” or by selecting “compress” from the File menu)
  • Windows users can create a "compressed folder" or use 7-Zip
  • Linux/Unix users could try "PeaZip" or "File Roller"

Creating a Drop-off

When you create a drop-off, you will enter some identifying information about yourself (name, organization, and email address); identifying information about the recipient(s) (name and email address), and choose what files should be uploaded to make the drop-off. If the files are successfully uploaded, an email is sent to the recipient(s) explaining that a drop-off has been made. This email also provides a link to access the drop-off. Other information (the Internet address and/or computer name from which the drop-off was created, for example) is retained, to help the recipient(s) check the identity of the sender.
 
Retrieval of a drop-off by a recipient can only be done with both the drop-off's Claim ID and Passcode. When dropping off files, you can choose not to send either or both of these to the recipient automatically: you would then need to send that information by hand yourself.

Making a Pick-up

There are two ways to pick up files that have been dropped off:

·       All users can click on the link provided in the notification email they were sent.

·       A Rice user once logged in to the system, can display their "Inbox" which is a list of all drop-offs waiting for them. Once logged in, a Rice user is able to access drop-offs, sent to or by them, without needing the email message.

When viewing a drop-off, the user will see quite a few things:

·       The list of files that were uploaded

·       The sender and recipient information that the sender entered when the drop-off was created

·       The computer name and/or address from which the drop-off was created

·       Optionally a list of pick-ups that have been made

The recipient has 14 days to pick up the files. Each night, drop-offs that are older than 14 days are removed from the system.

Please note that the uploaded files are scanned for viruses, but the recipient should still exercise as much caution in downloading and opening them as is appropriate. This can be as easy as verifying with the sender mentioned in the notification email that he or she indeed made the drop-off. One can also check the computer name/address that was logged when the drop-off was created, to be sure that it is appropriate to the sender's Internet domain. However IP addresses can be faked, so the former identity verification is the most reliable.

Resumable Downloading of Files

Most web browsers support resumable downloads. That way, if for any reason you lose connection while attempting to download a file from ZendTo, you can pick up where the download left off instead of starting the download all over again. Click on the download and hit resume if the download doesn’t start automatically. 

Size Limitations on Uploads

Being able to upload files larger than 2 GB depends on the browser being used.

If at all possible, use a 64-bit browser on a 64-bit operating system. If you only have an old 32-bit system, then make sure you have an up-to-date version of Google Chrome or Firefox. 

If you are having the following issues when dropping off or picking up a large file:

• Your browser reports a bad or broken connection after downloading a significant portion of the file
• An error page is displayed that indicates you dropped off no files then you are most likely connected to the Internet via a connection too slow to move the amount of data in a timely fashion. Your computer normally has at most 2 hours to fully send or receive a drop-off.