What is FTP?

FTP stands for "File Transfer Protocol", and indeed it is just that - it is for transferring files, it is not a platform for permanently storing, moving, running or opening files. It is simply a way to send files back and forth between computers.

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.

The two most common uses of FTP are:

1. Downloading files (like software programs) from another computer.
   
2. Uploading files (placing files into a directory on another computer) like web pages, for example.

As a user, you can use FTP with a simple command line interface (for example, from the Windows MS-DOS Prompt window) or with a commercial program that offers a graphical user interface. Your Web browser can also make FTP requests to download programs you select from a Web page. Using FTP, you can also update (delete, rename, move, and copy) files at a server. You need to logon to an FTP server.

Basic FTP support is usually provided as part of a suite of programs that come with TCP/IP. However, any FTP client program with a graphical user interface usually must be downloaded from the company that makes it.

How does FTP work?

FTP works very similarly to the way web pages work. Each file on an FTP server is given an address (URL) so that other computers connected to the Internet can find it. Users can then either use an FTP client, or most web browsers, to either download or upload files to the server. However, you cannot "open" files directly from an FTP server.

Here are a couple common scenarios where FTP would be used:

1. You are working with others on a project and need to share information. Files from the FTP server can be downloaded to the PC and edited. The edited files can then be uploaded back to the FTP server for storage and access by the users.
   
   
2. You have created a very large electronic document or file, which is too large to e-mail, and you need to get a copy over to another persons computer. Instead of copying all of the data to floppy disks or CD's and sending it to the person, you could open an FTP client, navigate to the pre-configured FTP server and simply upload the files so that the other person may then download them.