FTP ESSENTIALS

FTP Essentials

FTP Essentials

Introduction

File Transfer Protocol, or FTP, is a protocol used for transferring files from one computer to another - typically from your computer to a web server. FTP is the preferred method of exchanging files because it's faster than other protocols like HTTP or POP. If you need to exchange large files, you should consider FTP(Shadab, 2002, 85-125 ).

FTP data is sent and received through computer port 21 and under the TCP protocol. The transfer is asynchronous, meaning not at the same time, and therefore faster than other protocols(Werner, 2000, 52-09).

Objectives of FTP were:

to promote sharing of files (computer programs and/or data),

to encourage indirect or implicit (via programs) use of remote computers,

to shield a user from variations in file storage systems among hosts, and

to transfer data reliably and efficiently.

FTP is designed mainly for use by programs though it is usable directly by a user at a terminal.

FTP in Review

As well as web servers, mail servers and chat servers, the Internet houses FTP servers. These are servers that are like libraries of software or files that you can go to and "download". "Downloading" means copying a file to your computer. Conversely, "uploading" means to transmit a file from your computer to another computer on the Internet.

Typically, when you visit an FTP server with a WYSIWYG* FTP program (like CuteFTP) you will be presented with a list of directories. A directory is identified by the characters "dir", for "directory" or a little yellow folder icon. If you click on this line you will go down the directory tree to more directories or to the files in that directory, or both.

Today most FTP sites can be viewed using a standard web browser. The web browser will list the directories and files in blue (denoting a link below). You can click on these links to commence a download(Shadab, 2002, 85-125 ).

Simply type the URL of the server into the location box. For example: ftp://name.of.site/ will give you a listing of all the directories of the FTP server;ftp://name.of.site/directory/ which will give you a listing of all the files available in that directory; andftp://name.of.site/directory/filename will download the actual file to your computer.

Many FTP servers are 'anonymous' FTP servers, which means you can log in with the username 'anonymous' and your e-mail address as the password (Werner, 2000, 52-09).

In the past you needed a special piece of software to view the files on an FTP server. You still need file transfer software if you want to "upload" files to an FTP or web server. This is required if you want to put pages on the web (Richard, 1992, 65-70 ).

There are a number of FTP programs around. The two most used packages are CuteFTP and WSFTP LE. These can be downloaded from many, many web sites. Inside an FTP program you will notice that the window is divided into two panes. The pane on the left shows directories and files on your ...