Understanding How FTP Works

Data exchange has been important from the early days of computing. A popular means of data exchange is connecting computers to one another. The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used to transfer files between two computers over a network and Internet. In this article, we will look at how to work with an FTP client. Auto FTP hosting Manager is an advanced FTP client that automates file transfers between your computer and the FTP server.

What is FTP?

When you want to copy files between two computers that are on the same local network, often you can simply “share” a drive or folder, and copy the files the same way you would copy files from one place to another on your own PC.

What if you want to copy files from one computer to another that is halfway around the world? You would probably use your Internet connection. However, for security reasons, it is very uncommon to share folders over the Internet. File transfers over the Internet using special techniques, of which one of the oldest and most widely-used is FTP. FTP, short for “File Transfer Protocol,” can transfer files between any computers that have an Internet connection, and also works between computers using totally different operating systems.

Requirements for using FTP

• An FTP client like Auto FTP Manager installed on your computer
• Certain information about the FTP server you want to connect to:
• The FTP server address. This looks a lot like the addresses you type to browse web sites.

For anonymous connections, you do not need a user name and password.

To transfer files, provide your client software (Auto FTP Manager) with the server address, user name, and password. After connecting to the FTP server, you can use Auto FTP Manager’s File Manager to upload, download and delete files. Using the File Manager is a lot like working with Windows Explorer.

FTP and Internet Connections

FTP uses one connection for commands and the other for sending and receiving data. FTP has a standard port number on which the FTP server “listens” for connections. A port is a “logical connection point” for communicating using the Internet Protocol (IP). The standard port number used by FTP servers is 21 and is used only for sending commands. Since port 21 is used exclusively for sending commands, this port is referred to as a command port. For example, to get a list of folders and files present on the FTP server, the FTP Client issues a “LIST” command.