Technical note: transfer files over an ethernet patch cable

It's possible to just connect two computers together with Ethernet and do a bit of IP configuration: # On sender... ip address add dev eth0 fd42:dead:beef::1/48 ip link set dev eth0 up # On receiver... ip address add dev eth0 fd42:dead:beef::2/48 ip link set dev eth0 up After a few seconds, pings should work: # On receiver... / # ping fd42:dead:beef::1 64 bytes from fd42:dead:beef::1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.649 ms 64 bytes from fd42:dead:beef::1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.376 ms 64 bytes from fd42:dead:beef::1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.414 ms 64 bytes from fd42:dead:beef::1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.340 ms ... and so should this: # On receiver... socat - TCP6-LISTEN:1234 | dd status=progress > big_file.tar.gz # On sender... socat - 'TCP6-CONNECT:[fd42:dead:beef::2]:1234' < big_file.tar.gz These commands assume you are using Linux, but this trick works everywhere. A nothing-special patch cable and ethernet jack should have no problem hitting ~900 Mbits/second, which is 6.7 GB per…