FTP - What is it? How does it work?
June 29, 2006
The number one question asked by new hosting clients once they get their Welcome Letter is “How do I get my photos, digital graphics, documents, web pages and files online?” I tell them they can upload via FTP, which leads to the second most asked question from new hosting clients, “What is FTP?”
For now, I’ll skip the techno-mumbo-gumbo and give you the basic ‘idea’ behind FTP and how you use it. Once you know how it works - and most specifically, how you can use it with your accounts here at Very Commerce - you may be interested to learn more. I’ll be sure to include some geek links at the base of this article for you to peruse at your leisure.
I’m a visual learner, so I’ve included a graphic below to assist in my explanation. Go ahead and look over it and then scroll on down below the graphic for the breakdown.
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. For the sake of this article, when I refer to FTP I am talking about a tool you can use to transfer (upload) your web pages, images, or whatever else you want, from your computer to the Very Commerce server where you are hosting your website. FTP can also be used to download programs and files to your computer from our server or other servers. Basically, FTP allows two computers, in this case the Very Commerce Server and you, the hosting client, to exchange information.
Think of FTP as a car. You need to take a meal to a friend. You package it up, load it up in your car and drive it over to her house. Then where is that meal? It is at her house. Later, your friend needs to give back your dish so she loads it up in her car and drives it over to your house. Now where is the dish? In your home. The car took both of you back and forth - serving as the vehicle to move the object needing to be transferred.
FTP does that with your computer files, images, web pages, and anything else you want to put on your website - or another’s website - and in the same way, it allows you to remove or download things from your website (or other websites and servers) back to your computer in your home.
How Do I FTP?
There is more than one way to use FTP. You can FTP via a Command-Line, an independent FTP program, or you can FTP through your web browser.
- Command-Line FTP. We are not going to discuss Command-Line FTP; you can google it and find many directives for Windows users.
- Independent FTP Programs are available both for sale and for FREE. We use Filezilla, a FREE, open source FTP Client. Another FREE FTP Client is SmartFTP. If you are a Mac user, Cyberduck is a FREE, open source FTP for Mac OS X. As well, you can FTP from WYSIWYG editors like FrontPage and Dreamweaver.
- Web Browser FTP. If you didn’t know it already, you can most probably use your web browser of choice to FTP. Because each web browser is different, we won’t go into details here on the ‘how’ of it, but you can search ‘web browser ftp’ and find many step by step directives of how to use your favorite web browser to upload and download to/from any server.
Configuring an Independent FTP Program
There is very little information required to configure an independent FTP Client/program. Keep in mind that FTP is used to transfer files from your computer to your web hosting space on the server. To do this, you will need:
- The Host. Sometimes this will be the site URL, for example - verycommerce.com, but you can also use an IP address, or in some cases, are required to use the IP address. **Your web host will give you the hostname for your account, but in most cases it will be your site URL.
- Username. This is the username assigned to your hosting account on the server.
- Password. This is the password assigned to your hosting account on the server.
cPanel’s File Manager as an FTP?
If you are hosting on the Very Commerce server, you can use your *cPanel’s File Manager in lieu of FTP to manage your files and directories in your hosting account. Though cPanel’s File Manager does allow you to do nearly anything you could do via FTP (making a quick ‘edit’ on a remote computer, for instance), there are limitations to using it.
Since cPanel is a feature of every web hosting account at Very Commerce, it alleviates the need for FTP for some users. Each Business and BizPlus web hosting account comes with a FREE eBook, cPanel: User Guide and Tutorial, published by Packtpub Publishing. This book offers detailed, practical instruction on how to use cPanel’s File Manager.
Geek Links
If you find you need more input, well, I understand; I find I normally do too. Here are a few links to give you more information on FTP.
- File Transfer Protocol · “File Transfer Protocol (FTP), a standard Internet protocol, is the simplest way to exchange files between computers on the Internet. Like the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which transfers displayable Web pages and related files, and the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), which transfers e-mail, FTP is an application protocol that uses the Internet’s TCP/IP protocols.”
- W3.org: File Transfer Protocol · “FTP has had a long evolution over the years. Appendix III is a chronological compilation of Request for Comments documents relating to FTP. These include the first proposed file transfer mechanisms in 1971 that were developed for implementation on hosts at M.I.T. (RFC 114), plus comments and discussion in RFC 141.”
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: File Transfer Protocol · “FTP or file transfer protocol is a commonly used protocol for exchanging files over any network that supports the TCP/IP protocol (such as the Internet or an intranet). There are two computers involved in an FTP transfer: a server and a client.”
- FTP: File Transfer Protocol · “These pages are designed as a reference for the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Unlike the IETF FTP specifications, these pages describe how FTP actually works (and doesn’t work) in practice. Let me know if you encounter any interoperability problems not described here.”
**If you host your website with Very Commerce, the FTP information you need for your account will be sent in your Welcome Letter.
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