[dba-Tech] DropBox, Retirement, and other topics

[Arthur Fuller]

I'm looking for a (ideally free, but a small cost is also acceptable) way
to send and receive files with a small number of people, currently one. I
used to use WinRAR to create an archive file and then simply send it using
Gmail, but lately Gmail has been busting me thinking that the RAR file
might contain malicious content.
I looked at DropBox but a) it costs, and b) I don't need all its features,
which seem designed for file-sharing among family and friends. At the
moment, all I want is a way to send my client updates to our
Access+Excel+SQL Server project. I want only him to be able to get to these
files.
I used to think that I'd retired,, but as Michael Corleone said, "I keep
trying to get out, but they keep dragging me back in." So while at the
moment, there's only one client who has dragged me back in, I'm expecting
more knocks on the metaphorical door. The price to pay for developing
complex apps. Everyone is  replaceable, myself included, but at what cost?
Given an app that uses 200+ tables, and many more queries, and is dedicated
to a particular professional niche, and your selection of the best and
brightest young graduates, it remains one hell of a learning curve. Hence
the phone call(s).
Don't get me wrong. I appreciated the call, and the chance to do some more
work and make the app even better. More than that, my friend and client has
injected some adrenaline into my brain and made me eager to code again,
when I thought I was done with all that. It's sort of "intellectual
Viagra". It has put a little spring in my step.
I digress. To restate the conundrum, I want a secure way to exchange files
between Developer (me) and Client (one person). And I'm preparing to have
to repeat this scenario, each time involving one Developer and one Client,
because I know that the phone is going to ring again, and soon.

One more thing. The fact is that I'm growing old, and while currently my
hat is still in the game, my client and I have to anticipate the day when I
am no longer able to serve. As mentioned above, the app in question is
complex and requires detailed knowledge of its domain. How do my Client and
I prepare for the day when the reins pass from me to a new stagecoach
driver?
I've known lots of people on this list for years, if not decades, and so
I'm surmising that lots of you are my age, give or take a few years, and
also seasoned in writing complex apps.
Have you considered the issue I'll call *Passing the Reins*? If so, please
share your plans.

-- 
Arthur