FTP clients and FTP accounts

To transfer files with FTP, you use a program often called the "client." The FTP client program initiates a connection to a remote computer running FTP "server" software. After the connection is established, the client can choose to send and/or receive copies of files, singly or in groups. To connect to an FTP server, a client requires a username and password as set by the administrator of the server. Many public FTP archives follow a special convention for that accepts a username of "anonymous."

Simple FTP clients are included with most network operating systems, but most of these clients (such as FTP.EXE on Windows) support a relatively unfriendly command-line interface. Many alternative freeware / shareware third-party FTP clients have been developed that support graphic user interfaces (GUIs) and additional convenience features. In any FTP interface, clients identify the FTP server either by its IP address (such as 192.168.0.1) or by its host name (such as ftp.about.com).

FTP supports two modes of data transfer: plain text (ASCII), and binary. You set the mode in the FTP client. A common error when using FTP is attempting to transfer a binary file (such as a program or music file) while in text mode, causing the transfered file to be unusable.

FTP clients and FTP accounts
File Trasnfer Protocol, a.k.a. FTP, is the fastest way to upload files from your local hard drive to internet based web site or server. To use FTP you would need an FTP client software, such as FileZilla or SmartFTP and would have to create FTP accounts to connect to your website. Click here for FTP hosting services, offering unlimited FTP account and 24/7 FTP access to your website.

FTP accounts
FTP accounts are used if you would like to grant someone permission to upload and download files from certain location on your web site. FTP accounts allow you to set different bandwidth quotas for your users. Each account has username and password and can have access only to specific folders on your web site. Click here to learn how to create FTP accounts.

FTP client software
To use FTP you would need an FTP client software. FTP clients connect via file transfer protocol to an FTP server in order to transfer files. Here we have selected 2 of the best freeware FTP clients: FileZilla, Cute FTP and SmartFTP. FileZilla is registered under the General Public Licence/GNU and SmartFTP is free for educational and home use. FileZilla and SmartFTP can be used both on Linux/Unix and Windows operating systems.

FileZilla
FileZilla is a free, open source FTP client. It can be used for uploading files on your web site both for Linux and Windows hosting plans. FileZilla is the most popular FTP client software and is used by thousands of webmasters.

SmartFTP
SmartFTP is an FTP client, that can be used both for Linux and Windows server hosted web sites. It is developed by SmartFTP GmbH. SmartFTP software is free for educational and home use.

Cute FTP
Cute FTP is an FTP client used for transferring files over the Internet. It has easy and intuitive interface and will help you a lot when publishing your web site or downloading photos or software.