Technology Basics: Uploads and Downloads

You may have heard the terms “upload” and “download” while going about your daily duties, but do you know what the difference is? While it might be clear that they are two very different things, they both have to do with the transfer of data. These two types of data transfer are used differently in a business setting.

Which One’s Which?
The only difference between download and upload in terms of data transfer is which direction the data is traveling. If you’re using the Internet to conduct research and find some great information, you might be tempted to save a copy of it to your device for easy access at a later date. This would be a download, as you’re the one receiving the data. If you were to put the information onto the Internet somewhere to share it--perhaps in your cloud storage solution--the act of putting it back online, or sending it somewhere, would be uploading it.

Considerations for Uploading and Downloading
Speed is of the utmost importance in computing. The data transfer speed is responsible for delivering important files to you or your clients in a timely manner. This is especially true for any business conducted on the Internet. A faster connection speed means more efficient downloads and uploads, which in turn leads to greater productivity in the long run. You can get an idea for your business’ data transfer speeds through your Internet connection by running a basic speed test.

Granted, there are other factors that play into how effective upload and download speeds are, with one of the major ones being file size. Larger files (like media files) can lead to considerable lag during upload and download times. You might notice a little bit of buffering with your streaming services from time to time, which is a perfect example of this. The difference in this case is that you’re not downloading the entire file all at once, and instead you’re playing the media on demand. Live-streaming is a bit different, as it broadcasts the media in real time.

At the end of the day, downloading and uploading data is going to play a major role in the way you conduct business, so you should know the difference between the two. What do you want us to cover in future tech term discussions? Leave your topics in the comments below.