YOU DOWN WITH FTP?

Chances are you’ve got some files to share from time to time. There are many different technologies out there that can accomplish the task of file sharing (some of which we’ve talked about here). But today we want to focus on the basics, File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

In short, FTP is a network tool that allows you to transfer, exchange, store and manipulate files via the internet. Many people/companies have file servers these days and they use those servers to store large amounts of files. Back in the day, in order to have access to these files, that company would have to burn the files onto a CD and FedEx it to you. With an FTP client, you can arrange to share these files with yourself or other people in your building almost as if they were on your own computer. It’s difficult to get your head around the technology at first but once you get into to it, you’ll be hooked. Here at the Bag, we use ftp daily and found these four apps to be the best for our purposes.

1. Cyberduck (Mac OS X) - http://cyberduck.ch/ - It’s free, open source and easy to use. Many of the Mac’s core system functions like Spolight, Bonjour and Growl are supported.
2. Transmit – (Mac OS X) - http://www.panic.com/transmit/ - Transmit costs 30 bucks but it’s way loaded with awesome features including server to server transfers and droplets for quick drag and drop functionality.
3. Filezilla – (All Platforms) - http://filezilla-project.org/ - Filezilla is great if you have Macs and PC’s in the building. They have a great support via extensive forums and they constantly update and improve the software. The best part is it’s free. If your just learning about FTP and want to get into the game, this is a great one to start with.
4. Smart FTP (Windows XP and up) - http://www.smartftp.com/ - Though not really for beginners this FTP software will do all the heavy lifting. With Smart FTP you can schedule downloads and perform a lot of automatic tasks. It’s good for managing web material and can also easily manage your stored files. When your ready for the big leagues, this is the client you wan to get. It’s free for 30 days then it’ll cost you 39 bucks

Give FTP a chance. It’s a huge time, money and resource saver. For more on FTP clients go to http://compnetworking.about.com/od/ftpfiletransfer/tp/aatp_winftpserv.htm. For more information on FTP technology and how it works check out Wikipedia’s entry on the subject. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ftp