DirectConnectDirectConnect compared with network file sharing
File sharing was built for offices and servers, not for two computers on a desk. DirectConnect replaces it with its own transfer service, optimised for a direct cable.
Setup
Turn on sharing, create a user, set permissions, find the other computer’s address, and on Windows switch the network from Public to Private. Every OS uses different menus.
Install on both computers and plug in the cable. No addresses, accounts or firewall settings.
Small files
Sends one file, waits for the other computer to confirm it, then sends the next, so thousands of small files mean thousands of waits. In our tests SMB took almost four minutes to copy 20,000 small files over a 10 Gb/s cable.
Sends many files at once, so there’s no wait between them. Fast copy moved 2,000 small files between two Macs in about half a second.
Reconnecting
Unplug, sleep or restart, and the share is gone. You connect and sign in again, and sometimes only a restart brings it back.
Remembers each computer and what you shared with it. Plug back in and it connects the same way, without asking.
Mac, Windows and Linux
Each OS shares differently. Mac to Windows means matching SMB settings, accounts and network profiles on both sides; Linux needs Samba set up.
The same app and the same three choices on Mac, Windows and Linux. Each side shows the other in its own file manager.
Using the cable’s speed
Over Wi-Fi, copies top out around 1 Gb/s. Over a cable, the computer can still send traffic over Wi-Fi or a dock instead.
Finds the cable link by itself and keeps traffic on it. It measures the link when it connects, so you see the speed you’re getting.
Test results has the hardware, dates and method behind the speed figures. To set up file sharing yourself, the Windows and Mac guide and keeping a share connected walk through it.