File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

File Transfer Protocol, commonly known as FTP helps us to communicate and share information in the form of digital files from between two remote computers. If you are looking for an efficient as well as secure communication protocol then go for FTP hosting service. People are taking complete advantage of FTP hosting service to keep their information secure from unauthorized third party.

Transferring files over the Internet

In this era of Internet technology, communications are taking place on World Wide Web, a network (Internet), which is spread across the globe. Transferring files in digital format is a part of Internet communication. In general the term Internet Communication refers to sharing information (text or image) through traditional Email from one computer to another located at remote place.

However, Email is not considered as the right medium to share information in the form of digital files. Several limitations are there like, size of the files and type of the files. Apart from the efficiency of the communication protocol and setup of the network, we have to think about the security measures to keep the information away from Internet predators.

Protocols to transfer information

Primary objective is to select an efficient communication protocol, which allows us to share information and transfer digital files irrespective of file size and type. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol) is considered as a standard communication protocol for transmitting data over a given network. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is an application protocol that comes with TCP/IP and supports transferring files over the Internet.

Advantages of FTP

Size and type of the files matter when sending them over the Internet. Error in the program or failure in the transferring process is a common problem when sending large digital files through Email. You can either send the large file by breaking it in multiple parts or can send the file via FTP hosting service. FTP hosting service allows us to send large files through a network without breaking the file in multiple parts.

No need to worry about the size and file type, only you have to ensure sufficient space in the server and fast Internet speed. FTP hosting service will allow the size of the files for online transmission depending upon the space that is allocated for you in the FTP server. For example, if you have 300MB space in the FTP server you can send either three 100MB files or can send a single file of size within 300MB. Since files, which you are transferring from a computer to another remote computer, are stored in the FTP server therefore it is necessary to maintain sufficient free space to transfer more files in the future. Otherwise you have to delete some files from the storage to get some free space.

The size of the file that you are transferring through FTP server also depends upon the speed of Internet. Therefore, you have to ensure fast Internet speed for efficient communication. FTP service providers have nothing to do with Internet speed. FTP Hosting Service and Internet Service are two separate things. Internet speed solely depends upon the Internet service provider. It is observed that for uploading large file (e.g., 300MB or more) Dial Up connection is not sufficient, it will take more time and may collapse in the middle of the process. In that case FTP can be the right option.

Security is another issue that you have to maintain throughout the communication process. It is recommended to go for Secure FTP hosting service to ensure the privacy of the content. Secure FTP hosting service comes with the features like SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), TLS (Transport Layer Security) or SSH (Secure Shell) that allow you to encrypt the content of the files. Files are encrypted with the help of keys and you can allow the authorized user to decrypt the content by providing the key. A recipient, without having a proper key cant decrypt the content.

Though general FTP hosting service doesnt always provide security features like SSL or SSH but keeps the privacy by maintaining separate FTP account for each user. FTP hosting services not only provide you free space in the FTP server to upload or download files but also allow you to create multiple FTP account to access the allocated space in the server. Each FTP account has a unique set of user name and password. Only the authorized user of that account can upload or download files from the server.

FTP Hosting Service general features

FTP hosting service comes with an FTP server through which information are transferred from one computer to another. FTP service provider will allocate some space for you based on the requirement. With the help of FTP hosting service you can store digital files on the server and allow only the authorized people to access the information. The entire procedure is quite simple and user friendly.

Initially you have to register for free space in the FTP server. FTP hosting service provider will allocate you the space. Next comes the question of setting up FTP Client. Each remote computer acts like FTP client during the transmission process. In other word it can be said that FTP Client is another component of FTP hosting service. For each FTP Client you will have separate set of user name and password. Files are uploaded from FTP client to FTP Server. Uploaded files are stored in the FTP server for a given period (that is determined by the FTP service owner). Another person who have the authority to access the uploaded file can download them from the FTP server through another remote computer or FTP Client.