First, 2GB strikes a unique balance—it's small enough to be managed by most modern systems, yet large enough to expose flaws that smaller files wouldn't reveal. For example, a file that is 2GB in size is large enough to test upload handlers, requiring that memory limits be managed properly, while being small enough to be downloaded in a few minutes over a high-speed connection. Moreover, a 2GB sample file is a perfect medium for stress-testing typical server configurations. Many web servers have a file upload limit set around this size. For instance, while the theoretical 2GB limit of the web server is often used as a parameter for "very large file" classification, many applications set their practical thresholds lower, making 2GB an ideal upper bound for testing.
Many cloud storage APIs (AWS S3, Google Drive, Dropbox) have timeouts or throttling policies that trigger on files larger than 1GB. A 2GB sample file is perfect for testing: 2gb sample file