What is FTP and what is it for? – – Wingdings Translator Online

Hosting Mautic QuickStart -50% with support in Spanish
24 hours and free training

Send up to 1,000,000 emails/year. Mautic support in Spanish 24 hours, 365 days

FTP ( File Transfer Protocol) it’s a File Transfer Protocol. It began to be used in 1971 and was perfected until reaching the final version, published in 1985, which is the one we use today.

This protocol allows a client computer to connect to a server to download files from it or to send it new files or modify the ones it already has.

In summary, thanks to FTP we will be able to exchange different types of files between computers connected to the same internal network or to the Internet.

If, for example, you are working on a website, thanks to this protocol you will be able to connect to the server to upload new files to it, modify them or download a folder or file from your website from your computer.

In order to use the FTP protocol we have to have a FTP server and a FTP client since this protocol works following the “client-server” model. In this model, the “client” would be the device that requests the service from the server, while the server is the one that would host the information with which we want to work and is responsible for sending the requested information to the client.

Next, we will be able to see more clearly what an FTP client and server are and what types of FTP servers we can find.

What is an FTP client?

An FTP client is software that allows you to easily connect to a server from your computer to exchange files with it.

Thanks to FTP clients you can connect, for example, to your hosting and edit the files on your website, upload new files or download them to save a copy on your computer. Also, you will be able to create new folders on the server from your FTP client and delete content.

One of the most well-known and used clients today is “” . In our you can see more information about this FTP client and how to use it to connect to an FTP server. Another option that may interest you is ““.

What is an FTP server?

The FTP server is a software that is installed on the server connected to the Internet or to a private network whose function is to allow clients to connect to it to manage and exchange files.

One of the most common uses of FTP servers is the one given to them in web hosting. Thanks to them you will be able to connect to the hosting in a simple way from your computer to work with the files of your website without having to access from the file manager of the hosting that you use.

There are many FTP servers today. Among the best known we can name: Vsftpd, Filezilla server, Proftpd or Pure-ftpd.

Types of FTP server

We can meet three types depending on how the connection is made.

Authenticated FTP

It is the most common of three. To be able to connect to the server you need to have an FTP user and password.

This type of FTP is the most used today since it would be the safest as it requires a username and password to connect to the server.

Anonymous or public FTP

This type of server allows all users to connect without having to create a specific username and password.
To connect to these servers, it is usually enough to put the word “anonymous” in the username and no password and we would already have access.
It is important to highlight this type of server, that although they allow any user to connect, they usually have limited permissions so that the number of files they have access to and the changes they can make are fewer compared to those that a user has. authenticated.
This type of server is usually used to offer content for download (images or application installers, for example), without allowing it to be uploaded or edited.

embedded FTP

It is perhaps today the least common of the three. It would really be a type of anonymous server that is incorporated into some web pages.
This type of FTP server allows anonymous connections to be made automatically from a web browser to the user’s computer to download different files.

conclusion

Now that you know a little more about FTP… Do you dare to try it to work with your website?
If you have a hosting contracted with us but you are not sure what data you have to use to access the server via FTP, you can review this where we explain where you can see them. If you have any problem or doubt when accessing, contact our support and we will be happy to help you.