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File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and that’s exactly FTP allows you to do – transfer files from one computer to another. It is a commonly used protocol for exchanging files over any network, which supports the TCP/IP protocol. In fact, FTP is perhaps the best, fastest and most efficient way to transfer large files over the Internet.
If you are a beginner on the web and just have a site with 3-4 pages, then you do not need to consider using FTP, provided you don’t have a plan to add more pages and more features to your existing site. However, in most cases, FTP should be one of the main considerations when finding web hosting. With FTP software you have the freedom to build your website with whatever tools you choose, and then upload these files quickly to your web host.
There are two computers involved in file transfer through FTP. The first computer is FTP server and the second is FTP client. You need to connect to the server first to start transferring files.
FTP Server – this computer listens on the network for connection requests from other computers.
FTP Client – this computer makes a connection to the FTP server by using FTP client software. Once connected, this computer can do a number of manipulation operations such as uploading files to the server, downloading files from the server, renaming or deleting files from the server and so on.
FTP commonly runs port 21, and runs exclusively over TCP. FTP server listens on port 21 for incoming connection from FTP clients. A connection on this port forms the control stream, on which commands are passed to the FTP server. Depending on the transfer mode, the client or the server can listen to the incoming data connection. Before the transferring of files starts the client and the server also negotiates the port of the data connection. In case of active connections, the server binds on port 20 before connecting to the client. However, for passive connections, there are no such restrictions.
FTP Software
Most of the modern FTP software are simple to use. Just launch the program, enter some basic information such as name, site address etc. and connect. Once connected, you can easily upload files from your local drive to the site and download files from the site to your machine. There are many existing FTP software (client and server programs) available, however, you need to select the one depending on what you are planning to do with your FTP software.
WS FTP – is the most popular file transfer client. It makes data management tasks faster, easier and more secure and allows you to manage all types of digital information. During data transfer, files can be automatically compressed into .zip archive file format. Therefore, it takes less time to transfer and improve throughput. WS FTP is the only FTP client that offers 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) keys with SSL transfers, making data secure enough.
Cute FTP – this is one of the most widely used shareware FTP programs. It is an FTP client developed by GlobalSCAPE sporting a simple GUI (Windows based). Cute FTP provides simple yet powerful tools for tackling the complex challenges of data management.
FTP Explorer – is modeled after the Windows Explorer interface. This free utility includes all the standard features of an FTP client, and allows you to resume a file download after an interruption. The site manager feature saves user name, password, and working directory for each remote site.
Transferring Files using FTP
Connect to a server:
In order to connect to an FTP server, the first thing you need is an FTP client.
To run command based Windows FTP client, you need to be in the command window or the DOS box. To do this, click on Start and then click on Run. In the text box, type cmd. You will now be in DOS box. Now, you type ftp, you will see the following
ftp>
This is the FTP prompt. Now, after the ftp prompt you need to type the address of the FTP server. For example, if you type “open ftp.myhost.org” this connects you to the server called ftp.myhost.org. This server may or may not support anonymous connections.
Anonymous FTP:
Under this arrangement, you do not need an account on the server. That means the user name is anonymous, not specific and you don’t need specific password for accessing this.
If the server doesn’t support anonymous connections, you need to use your own user name and password that is provided by the server’s administrator. As you provide your user name and password, you are logged in to the server. Now, if you type help, the screen will show you the list of commands available. If you want to view the present directory type pwd, you will view the directory. If you want to view the list of files and directories in the present directory, type ls, you will see something like this:
ftp> ls
200 PORT command successful. Consider using PASV.
150 Here comes the directory listing.
pub
226 Directory send OK.
ftp: 5 bytes received in 0.00Seconds 5000.00Kbytes/sec.
ftp>
This means that there is only one directory called pub in the current directory. The numbers you can see are FTP return codes (3 digit numeric codes).
To run GUI based Windows FTP client, you need to find where the connect option is. Type in the address of the FTP server you wish to connect to (E.g. ftp.myhost.org), and then enter your user name and password and login. As you are logged in to the server, you can start uploading and downloading files.
Upload files:
The major use of FTP is to upload files to the server. This is mainly used while creating a website and hosting that on the Internet. However, if you would like to upload a file you will first need a FTP web host i.e. web host with FTP access. Once you get the FTP server information from the host you need to set up your own profile with user name and password and connect to the server.
Once you are connected, you will get a screen that will allow you to upload files.
In the left panel, you will get the folder that contains the file or files on your computer. Now, navigate to the folder you want on the right hand pane (on the server). If you like to create a new folder, click on MkDir.
To upload a file, choose the file in the left hand pane and click on -> button (please see the figure above). The file will be uploaded to the server. Now, you can use a web browser to check if the file exists now in the web browser or not.
Download files:
Like uploading, you need to set up a profile with user name and password to download files from the remote computer.
The left panel shows the files on your computer while the right panel shows the files on the remote computer. To find a file on the remote computer click on the folder or file name and click on <- button (please see the figure above). As you try to download the files, it will prompt you to save the file in your local folders. Select the place where you want to save the file; the file will be transferred to the location. This is how you can download a file, using FTP.
Disadvantages of FTP
Though FTP has a number of advantages, it has some disadvantages too. The passwords and file content are sent in clear text, and this can be easily interpreted by eavesdropper. Multiple TCP/IP connections are used in FTP, so firewall software needs to be set accordingly for these connections.
Security problems are also there in FTP, as there is no way to transfer data in encrypted format. So under most network configurations, user name, password, FTP commands and file names can be viewed by someone else on the same network. However, the person needs to use the protocol analyzer for this. Don’t worry, there is a solution of this problem too and that is SFTP, which is based on SSH or FTPS, which adds SSL encryption to FTP.
Error Handling
If you do a normal login, you will have the option of doing normal file transfer. However, if any problem occurs at the time of login, you might get the following error messages:
- A connection with the server cannot be established (this mean either you are not connected to the Internet or the server is facing some technical problems). For the second problem, you cannot do anything except retrying.
- Login incorrect (this means you might have misspelled your user name or password). Check if the caps lock is on or any other possibilities. If nothing happens, then your account might have been deleted or there is some problem with the server.
The main objective of FTP is to promote sharing of files like computer programs and data and to transfer data reliably and efficiently. It also encourages indirect or implicit use of remote computers, and shields a user from variations in file storage systems among different hosts.
FTP gives you the control, as you can choose whether you need to send binary files or ASCII files. This is an advantage over other file sharing methods, which do not give you the choice. By using FTP, you can have the automatic backup of your files. You can edit files in your local computer. As you make the changes, you can instantly upload the edited file to the host’s computer.
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