File Transfer Basics

Question on one some corporate newsgroup:

Noticed something weird today. Was using FTP to xfer some files around and noticed that "getting" files resulted in a transfer rate of about 15kb/sec while "putting" files resulted in a transfer rate of about 400kb/sec?!?!

Both sending and receiving nodes were C4's, but one is a server and one is a WS.

What gives??

Answer some 10 minutes later:

The remote system is downhill from your system, resulting in a faster rate of transfer when you "put" files, and a lower rate of transfer when you "get" files (since you have to pull the bits uphill).

Remember, you should _never_ stack two systems on top of each other. Bits cannot handle vertical acceleration, and you could actually cause a bit overflow. That's why you should always back away from a machine that has an "overflow error", because, chances are, it's about to explode.

Jeeze, you're working at a computer company and you don't even know the basics?