Learning About FTP

February 4th, 2010 · No Comments

Regardless of what you’re using your computer or the internet for, there are certain terms and technical issues you’re going to become familiar with. One of these is FTP, which stands for File Transfer Protocol. The reason you’ll need to become familiar with FTP is because FTP is the tool that you’ll be using to transfer your file to a remote computer.

Whether you’re sending email to a friend or associate or browsing through your web site, you’re attempting to send files to another computer or server. You are doing this with the help of FTP, which is currently one of the most efficient and easiest methods of transferring files.

FTP consists of two components: server software and client software. As the client, you’re making a request to the server to transfer your file. The server will take your request, act on it and transfer the file. It’s a very simple process, but one that requires both types of software. When you create your web site as a file type, you put this file on the server, where it can be transferred by use of different commands such as PUT or GET, with PUT being the command the client’s software uses to put the file on the server and GET for when the server receives the file.

Although FTP is the most efficient method of file transfer, it’s not the only method. Copy and paste is another method. Your browser is also helpful in transferring files. In fact, every time you browse through web sites, you’re transferring files. The files from the site you’re viewing are transferred from their server to your computer where your browser will display them for you. Email is another method of transferring files from your computer to the remote server.

It will be beneficial to learn as many file transferring methods as possible just in case the FTP method is not operating as it should. The more you can learn about FTP, the more efficiently you’ll be able to complete your tasks.