If you need to send a large file to someone without using email, you may want to know what services and tools are available without needing tech knowledge or using file transfer protocol (FTP).

Using the email attachment approach for files that are larger than one megabyte isn't effective and it may never reach the recipient because some Internet providers don't allow large files through. It also hogs the recipient's email as it takes time to download depending on the file size, the person's Internet connection speed and recipient's host provider.

Private P2P file sharing tools like Grouper, TrustyFiles or even Groove, QNext and several others are possible solutions, but they are not as popular or as easy to adopt for users needing to send a large file on an occasional basis.

Thankfully, several vendors have recognized the need for a Web-based file exchange service to answer this market demand, and offer products ranging from bare-bones file uploading services (targeted mostly to individuals and home users) to fully customizable secure online file storage and distribution systems. Of course, the price tag differs for each of these levels of sophistication with available options for each budget level.

If you have experience with these and other vendors (we're adding more — there's a lot of them!), please share them in the comments section.

Here are some of the large-file-exchange Web services and their most important features.