From a simple protocol to copy files over a TCP-based network, the core element of FTP (File Transfer Protocol) technology has become a sophisticated, integrated model that provides control, visibility, compliance and security in a variety of environments, including the cloud.
It is a far cry from when Abhay Bushan, a student at MIT, wrote the original specification for FTP (published as RFC 114) 40 years ago on April 16, 1971.
SC Magazine just published an article with an interview with Frank Kenney, VP of Global Strategy. He recently spoke in London at a press conference for InfoSecurity Europe, Europe’s leading information security event which took place on April 27-29, 2010.
A basic theme of the interview addresses the FTP market and the growing number of files sent back and forth in business environments.
From the article: “Referring to Gartner statistics, Kenney said that the market is growing in FTP, and two million MP3s are moved via email systems every four weeks.
He said: “From the iPhone and iGoogle portal pages to web mail and file-sharing websites to USB drives, corporate IT has to manage and control both sanctioned and ad-hoc applications, processes and systems.”
When the new FileTransferPlanet.com launched, we had a big dilemma – that being, to port in all of the old forum material that we had or not to. Literally years and years of information – most of which, unfortunately, was too dated to keep without major revising. We made a decision to start fresh – a very daunting task in this new age of social media. An empty forum is never a good sign to a new visitor. Fortunately, some early adopters have jumped in immediately – which is great! Many thanks to PaulBeugeling, Mike, “chester”, and the others who are making it such a helpful place to chat.
The forums have some new features that we are really pleased with. They are built on BBPress, on a really nice open source platform – and happens to work quite nicely with WordPress, which powers this blog. There are of course some anti-spam measures in the background, but on the front end we’ve chosen for a “human test” to help make sure its not a dirty robot dropping junk into a post. Â We did not want to lock it down too much, however, so creating an account is not necessary – guest posts are more than welcome! Other cool features – if you drop a URL to a Youtube video into a post, the site is smart enough to embed the video (here’s an.. umm, example.. from one of our members) .
A “support forum” is also in placed – if you have a question you really want answered, drop it in there, and you have control over it being marked as “resolved” or not – to keep our experts on the case as long as you need.
Other stuff we have.. RSS is all over the place – subscribe to as much, or as little, as you want.. or even go old school with Email subscriptions to particular threads.
That’s just the start – so head on over! Oh and – once you create an account, it works for both forums and blog comments! Yeah, its that easy. Got ideas? Concerns? Please let us know – either comment here – or heck, even better, start a thread in the forums .
If you’re setup with a file transfer client and make regular connections to an FTP server, you can easily automate file transfers. This is useful if you want to update a website nightly, or update the same document daily. There are a few ways to do this with WS_FTP. With the Scheduler Utility, you upload a file by setting a specified time interval. Utilizing the Synchronize Utility, a mirrored ( local vs. remote) set of files can be ‘synchronized’ automatically. The third feature is for an advanced user — Script Utility allows for a scheduled file transfer, but also allows for deleting files, changing directories, or checking success/failure of a command.
File Transfer Planet happily runs on WordPress – a free, elegant and very powerful blogging platform. Over the last few years, WP has become increasingly popular and at the same time, more advanced and user friendly.
wordpress admin ui
With the release of 2.7, WordPress had a built in “plugin browser” which allowed on-the-fly plugin installation – where previously you’d have to FTP files to your site. Themes still required FTP however – which I suspect was always a bit of a challenge for novices.
This week, a new version of WordPress came out that improves on the user experience nicely, and more importantly, allows users to install themes without FTP! This is a pretty big deal, and quite a time saver.
installs on-the-fly - evil?
Is it killing FTP? No way. The plugin and theme browsers are limited to the main WordPress repository for these items – yet many, many themes and plugins are hosted elsewhere, in other repositories and developer sites. For these types of situations you still need to download, unzip, and FTP your files back to your site. So to really keep your WordPress blog on the cutting edge – polish those FTP skills. Some of the best plugins and themes are not available via the built in interface!
Did you say you need an FTP Client? We strongly recommend WS_FTP for Windows users, and Fetch for Mac users.. learn and buy them at our online store page.
Interested in learning more about FTP? You certainly came to the right place! Check out our guides, or new forums if you have specific questions. For the record, our forums run on another piece of software by the makers of WordPress, called BBpress. If you have an account on our blog, it works on the forums as well.
Now – back to WP 2.8!! Here’s a video and info put together for the release:
Major New Improvements
First and foremost, 2.8 is way faster to use. We’ve changed the way WordPress does style and scripting.
The core and plugin updaters in previous versions of WordPress have been such a success we decided to bring the same to themes. You can now browse the entire theme directory and install a theme with one click from the comfort of your WordPress dashboard.
If you make edits or tweaks to themes or plugins from your dashboard, you’ll appreciate the new CodePress editor which gives syntax highlighting to the previously-plain editor. Also there is now contextual documentation for the functions in the file you’re editing linked right below the editor.
If you were ever frustrated with widgets before, this release should be your savior. We’ve completely redesigned the widgets interface (which we didn’t have time to in 2.7) to allow you to do things like edit widgets on the fly, have multiple copies of the same widget, drag and drop widgets between sidebars, and save inactive widgets so you don’t lose all their settings. Developers now have access to a much cleaner and robust API for creating widgets as well.
Finally you should explore the new Screen Options on every page. It’s the tab in the top right. Now, for example, if you have a wide monitor you could set up your dashboard to have four columns of widgets instead of the two it has by default. On other pages you can change how many items show per page.
And Even More
You can read the full list of over 180 new features, changes, upgrades, and improvements on the Codex. The list is exhausting!
We just came across a great Computerworld article that gives a rundown of one thing that makes File Transfer so great. Ever want to send a big photo, movie, or song via email, only to be rejected by large attachment size restrictions? Sure – who hasn’t!! Well – maybe sometimes can just skip email all together .
The best FTP client I know of is WS_FTP from Ipswitch. CheckPCWorld’s download area for free and trial versions of FTP software from dozens of programmers. Client based software tools are great for more knowledgeable users who transfer large files regularly.
Stop fighting e-mail and trying to make it do something it can’t — transfer large files. Check online for free and inexpensive options, or break our your old tennis shoes and revive SneakerNet.
Good stuff, Computerworld! We of course agree with your WS_FTP recommendation here.
A common question discussed at FTPplanet is the difference between FTP and TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol). Here is a nice Q&A on the topic from Techtarget.
The biggest, most important point to note with TFTP is that it provides no authentication during the transfer. Comparing FTP vs TFTP
Are you looking for ways to increase the speed of your file transfers?
There are several simple things to check, which can help you determine where you may be reducing speed of your transfers. Slow transfer speeds doesn’t mean you have a cumbersome FTP client!
Take a look at this in-depth review in the FTP Speed Tips section of FTPplanet.
Key questions to ask yourself:
1. What other programs are using your internet connection?
2. Does your ISP provide slower uploads than downloads?
3. What is the server’s limit?
4. Do you have multiple connections open to the same server?
5. Who else is connected to the server?
Three people told me this past week that their New Year’s Resolution was to finally learn how to create a simple website.
There are lots of great tools that make creating a website pretty simple. Here’s a good overview of some of the “how-to’s” of website creation.
The article does a good job of suggesting tools and software to get you started. And it’s nice to see my personal favorite secure file transfer software is recommended: “Use a file transfer program (FTP) such as Ipswitch WS_FTP to upload and download your website creation and any updated pages between your computer and web site host computer.
Formerly FTPplanet.com, we have redesigned and relaunched as FileTransferPlanet.com, a community site for discussions about file transfer, web design, software deals, and other cool topics! Registration is free -- Post a question in the Discussion Forums or comment on any blog posts.
Monday, April 18, 2011
0
From a simple protocol to copy files over a TCP-based network, the core element of FTP (File Transfer Protocol) technology has become a sophisticated, integrated model that provides control, visibility, compliance and security in a variety of environments, including the cloud.
The forums have some new features that we are really pleased with. They are built on 
.
