What Is FTP or SFTP — How Do I Use It
What is FTP
FTP is an acronym that stands for File Transfer Protocol. This is a program that allows you to transfer files from one computer to another
For example if you created your web pages on your computer, either using a text editor or some other web page editor. You will then need to transfer those pages to the your Website. We can accomplish this very easily with a FTP client
What is SFTP
With SFTP a secure channel is not provided to transfer the files between the hosts to transfer or copies file from one host to another host or systems. It normally uses port 21 which is a non secure port. It establishes the connection under a standard TCP protocol in which it does not encrypt the data before sending
SFTP Stands for “Secure File Transfer Protocol”. This protocol works the same as FTP but provides a Secure channel. SFTP establishes a controlled connection under SSH protocol and it normally uses in port 22. SFTP encrypts data before sending files. It works on a “Transparent FTP Tunneling Method” for transferring of files. SFTP maintains full security of the data by using SSH keys
What is Anonymous FTP
Another method for using the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). With “Anonymous FTP” you normally do not need to identify yourself before accessing files. In most cases you enter the word “anonymous” or “ftp” when prompted you for a user name. You can enter anything for the password such as the word “guest”. In many cases, when you access an anonymous FTP site, you won’t even be prompted for any user name and password
Logging in to FTP
You will need an FTP Client and your FTP login credentials (Contact support if you do not have FTP login credentials)
FTP Clients
File Transfer Protocol is necessary when you are trying communicate with a Web Server for the propose of uploading content, images, scripts or any type of file. It is the FTP client software that initiates and maintains the connection to the Web Server. This is one of the most popular ways when building or maintaining a Website. Especially when transferring large files. There are many different FTP clients that you can choose from. Some are free and some are paid versions
Some of the more popular ones are listed below
WinSCP
Commander One for Mac
SmartFTP
CuteFTP
Free FTP by Coffee House
Cyberduck
FireFTP [Firefox extension]
Transmit for Mac
ForkLift For Mac
FileZilla
WS_FTP Professional
Coffeecup
FTP Voyager
Core FTP
cPanel: Uploading files with the “File Transfer Manager” available through cPanel
For a text editor we recommend NotePad++
Using Windows Command Line FTP
Originally published at https://rshweb.com.
