tar c | ssh "tar x"

tar c directory/ | ssh lensman "tar x"

Unix is beautiful.

(Yes, I know about scp and rsync.)

UPDATE 2004-08-06: Other options:

This is the most ugly way of doing it. It involves wasting disc space.

$ tar czf directory.tgz directory
$ scp directory.tgz lensman:
$ ssh lensman
$ tar xzf directory.tgz

Until I did this research, I didn't know you could do this one: (Notice the rcp-like syntax.)

$ scp -r directory lensman:

rsync is the king of the rcp replacements. It has the most options and is best for incremental backups.
Set the RSYNC_RSH variable in your ~/.bashrc file.

$ export RSYNC_RSH="ssh"
$ rsync -r directory lensman: