FTP Hosting Tutorials

What is FTP? What is FTP is a very common question when dealing with web hosting. Best FTP Web Hosting has written this tutorial on FTP so that you will know what is FTP, what the benefits of FTP are, and types of FTP. Here is our FTP review!

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is the easiest way to transfer files from your computer to your website. FTP is transferred over the internet. In order to use FTP you must get an FTP client like SmartFTP client. The easiest way to think of FTP is that you upload your files to the client and then it gets transferred to the website. In longer words, FTP is built on client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server applications. Client applications were originally interactive command-line tools with standardized command syntax, but graphical user interfaces have been developed for all desktop operating systems in use today. FTP is also used as an application component to automatically transfer files for program internal functions. FTP can be used with user-based password authentication or with anonymous user access. That is why you will see anonymous FTP listed under some FTP web hosting companies.

There are six main benefits of using FTP. Those FTP benefits are the following:

• To promote the sharing of files
• To encourage indirect or implicit use of remote computers
• To shield a user from variations in file storage systems among different hosts
• To transfer data reliably, and efficiently
• FTP is very user friendly
• Backup data files

What are the types of FTP? Best FTP Web Hosting has listed the three main types of FTP.

1. FTP client software- Typically FTP software will cost under $100.00. This type of FTP software will offer drag and drop capabilities which is really nice. Some of the best FTP client providers are SmartFTP, FlashFXP, and CuteFTP.
2. Free FTP software- Free FTP software is nice if you are learning how to use it. You typically get limited access to the programs but enough to transfer your files. Free FTP software is good for blogs and small personal sites. Some of the best free FTP clients are FireZilla and CoreFTP. Free FTP access is also available with some of the best FTP web hosting plans. This can be another form of free FTP software.
3. Anonymous FTP- A web hosting company that provide FTP access as part of their hosting plan typically provides an FTP client service as anonymous FTP access. This is when users login to the service with an anonymous account when prompted for user name. The users will then be asked to use their email address as the password, but little to no verification is actually performed on the supplied data.

Best FTP Web Hosting uses several FTP client programs. We used a variety of them to try them out. So far our best FTP client software is from SmartFTP. SmartFTP is very easy to use and very cheap. It works great with all of cheap web hosting providers!

HostMonster

FatCow

GoDaddy