About FTP

The Basics
    FTP is a protocol used to transfer data over the Internet (as is HTTP and SMTP). It gets its name from its usage to move files between servers. If you need to move a large file or document, FTP is most certainly the way to go. FTP is a two-way protocol in that you can both send and receive files and control both processes. 

    When you run an FTP program, you simple tell it which server to connect to and it does. Sometimes, you have to enter a specific login and password. Other times you can log in with anonymous and an e-mail address. Once you are logged in, you are presented with a directory structure that you have access to. You can navigate the directory structure and depending on the system, pull files off the server or put files on to the server (get and put). The files will then be copied from one location to the other (typically, from the server to your hard drive). It's analogous to copying files from one directory or folder on your computer to another, except that one of the folders could be on a server three thousand miles away. 

What You Need

    FTP requires a client on your machine that you use to connect to the server. Sometimes, people use simple text-based command-line FTP programs like the one that comes built-in to the Windows 95 package, but the graphical ones are definitely more popular. Windows 3.x/95/NT customers can use WS-FTP or CuteFTP which simulate the server's directory structure in a familiar Windows interface. For Macintosh customers, Fetch is probably the best program. Most of these programs are free for you to download and use (either as trials or as an evaluation version). 

Running A Server
    Sometimes, people find it necessary to let people copy large files from their computers. In this case, you would need an FTP server. TUCOWS has some available for all platforms, but these are unsupported by ECPI.com. In general, be careful with anonymous access. Once someone has access to your computer, there is a potential for a lot of damage to be done.