The primary advantage GridFTP has over simply using tar+netcat for performance is that GridFTP can multiplex transfers over multiple TCP connections. This is he

The primary advantage GridFTP has over simply using tar+netcat for performance is that GridFTP can multiplex transfers over multiple TCP connections. This is helpful as long as the endpoint systems limit the per-connection buffer size to some value less than the bandwidth-delay product (BDP) between them. If you've got to bug sysadmins to get GridFTP set up for you on both endpoints, you might as well just ask them to increase the maximum TCP buffer size to match the BDP. EDIT: Sorry, "multiplex" is not the right word to describe that. It's more like GridFTP "stripes" files across multiple connections; it divides the file into chunks, sends the chunks over parallel connections, and reassembles the file at the destination.