Transferring data¶

Where is your data?¶

Your home directory, /users/your-user-name/, is shared across all CARC machines, meaning that once your data has been uploaded to your home directory, it is accessible regardless of which machine you are logged in to. Refer to our CARC Systems documentation page for details on CARC systems.

Graphical User Interface (GUI) options¶

There are several options available for data transfer that employ a GUI for ease of use. Several options are listed below, linked to the homepage for each piece of software, with documentation on how to use it.

FileZilla is available for both Windows and Unix systems, whereas WinSCP is Windows-only and Fetch is macOS-only. GUI-based programs are very user-friendly and well-suited to those who are less comfortable with the Linux command-line interface. Unfortunately, the programs listed above, and other GUI-based programs, use File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which has a relatively low transfer speed and is best suited to smaller file sizes.

Command-line interface (CLI) options¶

For larger files, it is recommended that you use one of several programs implemented as a command-line interface. These programs have several benefits over their GUI-based counterparts, including higher transfer speeds and the ability to resume a transfer if it is interrupted, without having to restart from the beginning. Below are two popular options with example commands and links for more advanced usage.

Secure Copy (SCP)¶

Transfer from local machine to CARC:

scp /your-file your-username@easley.alliance.unm.edu:target-directory/

Transfer from CARC to local machine:

scp your-username@easley.alliance.unm.edu:your-file /target-directory/

Remote Sync (RSYNC)¶

Transfer from local machine to CARC:

rsync -vhatP /your-file your-username@easley.alliance.unm.edu:target-directory

Transfer from CARC to local machine:

rsync -vhatP your-username@easley.alliance.unm.edu:your-file /target-directory/

The -vhatP flags instruct rsync to print the progress of the transfer verbosely and in a human-readable format.

As you can see, the syntax for these two programs is very similar; however, the options for advanced usage are unique to each one. The examples above cover only basic data transfers — refer to the links provided, or use man programname for the CLI options, to optimize each tool for maximum data transfer efficiency and speed.

This quickbyte was validated on 6/22/2026

Video walkthrough¶

Transferring data — from the CARC video tutorials:

Migrated from UNM-CARC QuickBytes (last source update 2026-06-22). Spotted a problem? Open an issue or pull request.