This document provides insight on what FTP is and how you can use it
effectively.
Introduction
File Transfer Protocol, generally known as FTP, is a method of
transferring files from one computer to another. The most popular use
these days is to FTP your files from your computer to your Web server
every time you have a change to your site. However there are also other
things you can do with FTP.
The Basics
As mentioned earlier, FTP is just one method of transfering files
from computer to computer. For smaller files, emailing the file as an
attachment could be adequate. But for larger files you will most
definitely want to FTP. It is a much faster method of transfer. Also,
with many email programs or email servers you are limited by the size
of the file. Another benefit of using FTP to transfer your files
instead of emailing is that you maintain data integrity. When you FTP,
you are sending the file as it is, there is no compression and no
encoding and decoding, things that could cause loss of data or data
corruption.
How to FTP
Today's FTP client software looks and acts very similar on both Macs
and PCs. For the Mac, one of the the easiest and fastest programs is Transmit. For the PC, CuteFTP
is often the FTP program of choice. Gone are the days of having to
manually type in certain FTP commands with the possibility of erasing
or moving a file by accident. Transferring files is as easy as dragging
and dropping a file or folder from your desktop to the desired
destination on the remote server. In this example, we'll assume you're
transfering files to a remote web server.
- Launch your FTP software - Do this just as you would with any computer application you use.
- Connect to the server
- Once the application is running, you need to connect to the server.
Often this is either your URL (eg, www.yourdomain.com) or an FTP
address (eg, ftp.yourdomain.com). You will also be asked for an account
name and password. Ask your administrator or Web service provider for
this information if you don't have it readily available.
- Find your files - Find the files you want to
transfer by navigating through your directories. You will also want to
navigate through the server directory to make sure you put the files in
the correct place.
- Transfer your files - Now to transfer. This is the
easiest part. Simply drag the file or folder you want to move to the
new location on the server. It's that easy.
Notice how in the screen shot above, the files in the left window
are the files on your computer. On the right is the server. Simply drag
the files from the left to where they should reside on the server which
is represented in the right window. Transmit for the Mac has a very
similar look and feel. |
