FTP Full Form | What is FTP and how do I use it, How does FTP work?

FTP Information for Beginners: An Introduction to FTP

You may or may not have heard the term FTP, But it is something that comes in handy when building a website.

FTP is a method of transferring files online. You may think of the sites you visit in your browser as the "Internet," but your browser only uses the HTTP protocol.

There are many other protocols that collectively make up the Internet. For example, IMAP and POP are two protocols used by email clients to send and receive messages.

XMPP is a protocol used for sending and receiving instant messages. FTP is another such protocol.

So let's know about FTP:-

FTP

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FTP Full Form

FTP Full Form is  – File Transfer Protocol

What does FTP mean?

FTP is an abbreviation that stands for File Transfer Protocol.

What is FTP?

FTP client is a program with the help of which you can quickly & easily transfer files from one computer to another.

In the case of building a website, this means that if you create web pages for your site on your computer using a text editor or some other web page editor, you will need to upload it to the server where your site is hosted.

What is FTP - FTP is a client-server protocol that relies on two communication channels between the client and the server: a command channel to control the conversation and a data channel to transmit file contents.

The client initiates the conversation by requesting to download or upload a file from the server.

Using FTP, clients can upload, download, delete, rename, move, and copy files on a server. The user is usually required to log on to the FTP server. 

However, some servers make some or all of the content available without a log-in, also known as anonymous FTP.{codeBox}

What is the history of FTP?

The original specification of the File Transfer Protocol was written by Abhay Bhushan and published as RFC 114 on 16 April 1971

Until the 1980s, FTP ran on NCP, the progenitor of TCP/IP.

The protocol was later replaced by RFC 765 (June 1980) and RFC 959 (October 1985), a TCP/IP version.

Several proposed standards, RFC 959, were amended; 

For example, RFC 1579 (February 1994) enabled firewall-friendly FTP (passive mode), and RFC 2228 (June 1997) proposed security extensions. 

RFC 2428 (September 1998) Added support for IPv6 and defined a new type of passive mode.

1971 – FTP is created by Abhay Bhushan and Bob Metcalfe
1973 – Version 1 of FTP is released
1981 – Version 2 of FTP is released
1985 – FTP is updated to support the Transfer-Encoding: chunked header
1994 – Version 3 of FTP is released
1998 – The File Transfer Protocol Working Group is created
2002 – Version 4 of FTP is released
2003 – The File Transfer Protocolbis Working Group is created
2008 – Version 5 of FTP is released{codeBox}

How to upload the file with FTP?

There are two ways to upload web pages created on your computer to a host server. 

You can either directly open the FTP page in your browser and upload the files or use a third-party FTP client.

How many types of FTP Clients are there?

There are many different FTP clients that you can download from the Internet. Some of these can be downloaded for free, and others can be downloaded after purchase.

Below are some popular FTP clients that you can download from the Internet.

1) FileZilla

2) Cyberduck

3) FireFTP

4) WinSCP

5) Transmit

What is the syntax of FTP?

The FTP URL syntax is described in RFC 1738:

ftp://[user[:password]@]host[:port]/url-path{codeBox}

(The bracketed parts are optional).

An FTP address looks much like an HTTP or website address, except the ftp:// prefix is ​​used instead of http://.

For example, the URL -

site:ftp.google.com login:google pass:445RT60 port:21{codeBox}

The first line, in this example, is the site address, which is the address of the FTP server you want to connect to.

Identifies ftp as the FTP server in this URL.

The second and third lines are the username and password for this FTP server, respectively.

The last line is the port number to which the server would connect. You can imagine the port as a kind of door to the server.

Often, the port number is appended to the end of the server's web address, separated by a colon, as in:

ftp.google.com:21{codeBox}

What are FTP ports?

The FTP protocol typically uses port 21 as the main means of communication. An FTP server will listen on port 21 for client connections. 

The FTP clients will then connect to the FTP server on port 21 and initiate negotiation. 

This main connection is called the control connection or command connection.

How does FTP work?

How To Use FTP:

As I mentioned, you can open the FTP directly in your browser by typing the URL above and upload or download your files.

But the second way is easy: you have to use an FTP client.

Here we will see an example of FileZilla:-


First, download FileZilla Client from this link and install it.

Now open FileZilla.

Now you have to fill in all the information about your FTP server so you can connect to it.

For this, click on Site Manager in the File menu.

FTP File menu

Now the Site Manager window will open. Here fill the information like this -

Type in a name for your site in Profile Name.

In Host Name, type the name of the server where your site is hosted. You can get this from your hosting service provider. It looks like this – ftp.hostname.com.

The port number is 21 by default.

Now type the username and password given by your hosting service provider.

Now save this setting.

Now, as soon as you connect the FTP server with FileZilla, you will see a window like this –

FTP File menu

Here on the left side is your local drive and on the right side is the FTP server.

So let's transfer some files!

On the left side of the screen, locate the files on your computer that you want to upload.

Now right-clicking on this file or folder and clicking on the Upload button will start uploading it.

You can right-click on any file or folder on the server side to download, delete or rename them.

Frequently asked questions on: FTP

What is FTP used for?

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a widely used network protocol for transferring files between computers over a TCP/IP-based network, such as the Internet. 

FTP allows people and applications to exchange and share data between offices and the Internet.

Does FTP require the Internet?

Correct. An FTP client is provided by your Windows version, allowing you to connect to an FTP server. 

So, with a client and a server on your local (work/home) network, you can use these to transfer files within your network. So, technically your local network is not the Internet.

Conclusion:

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