HND CSYS1051

What is FTP?
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP follows very specific rules for transmitting and receiving data.  The file must be broken up into pieces at one end and reassembled correctly at the other; the data must be checked for errors and stamped with the correct filename and date; and the FTP software must allow clients to navigate through the host's system directories to find a file. A Host site acts as an archive where users are allowed to put or get files  (put and get are typical instructions required to move files to and from an FTP Server, Unix commands, however if a client is regularly needing to carry out such operations there are a number of more user friendly,GUI  programs, available through the Internet.)

Literally thousands of FTP servers are scattered around the Internet. (Often known as guest/anonymous FTP sites).  These allow users to log on for the purpose of downloading files.  Usually, when logging into anonymous sites, the user gives a user name of anonymous and their e-mail address as a password.

In order to send files a dedicated FTP program is required.  There are many available on the Net and if your computer uses Windows 95 a simple text based FTP utility is included.  Shareware programmes such as WS_FTP provide a GUI style of screen and are available over the Net (IPSWICH site).

A sample public site is Sunsite .  To access this site from your browser, type the URL (ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/) in the address location box.  You can explore the site and "get"available files.

FTP sites are really just directories full of files, much like the directories (folders) on your own computer.   However, some of the larger sites have Web "front ends" Eg. Netscape FTP server   (http://home.netscape.com/comprod/mirror/win32/beta_win32_java.html).

As you travel around different FTP sites, you'll notice that graphics files such as GIFs, JPEGs are never zipped as they are already compressed.  Compressed files may have a file extension of .ZIP or .ARJ or .LHA or .ARC or .ZOO.  Unix zipped files have an extension of .Z or .TAR or .GZ.

• Open your browser
• Position cursor inside the location (address) field
• Replace the current URL (Uniform Resource locator) for the WinZip home page with the URL http://www.winzip.com/
• Select a WinZip or WinZip Self-Extractor file that suits your system.
• Select the Save File option
• Choose a location.

FTP files are ideal if you know what you want.  However, where do you start to look?  What if you only know part of the filename?  One of the most useful tools on the Net is a service called  Archie this allows you to locate files in the FTP haystack.