FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. A protocol is simply a set of rules that computers on a network use so that they both speak the same language. FTP is a protocol used to copy a file from one computer to another. That is all you need to know about protocols and that's about as technical as any discussion on protocols will get.
It may surprise you to know that FTP is the founding protocol of the Internet. It goes back to the 1960's when the United States military wanted to transfer information around a national network of computers.
FTP is still the standard method of transferring files across the Internet. Whether you are aware of it or not, most links found on the Web that point to large files will use FTP as the protocol to carry out the transfer, and as FTP allows you to both send and retrieve files it is also the method used to maintain Web sites.
However, for too long FTP has been the reserve of the 'technically aware'. This has mainly been due to the obsolete software available to access FTP sites. Even recent Windows® based FTP clients may still expect their users to visualise UNIX style directory structures and navigate 'abstract file names'. The use of the term UNIX (which is just another operating system as Windows® is) may itself be enough to turn off all but the highly computer literate.
Life is not so complicated these days, Terrapin FTP Browser firmly brings FTP into the nineties and beyond. PC Magazine stated "...Windows 95's FTP client is a DOS program of unpleasant mien - if you're not familiar with UNIX file system commands when you start using it, you will be by the end. Terrapin FTP Browser 2 is to such nastiness as Windows 95 is to DOS" (PC Magazine Sep 1997 Volume 6 Issue 9).
If you can use Windows® Explorer to navigate the folders on your own computer then, using the same familiar file tree structure, you will be able to use Terrapin FTP Browser to navigate the files and folders of a remote computer anywhere in the world - it's that simple!
WWW and FTP Contrasted
Introduction
This document aims to illustrate some of the differences between the Web and FTP.
The first topic, which covers protocols and connections, some may find a bit technical in places. However, it will explain how your web browser connects and views web pages, in turn it will show that connecting to an FTP site is no more complex.
The topic also looks at the components of URL's which could prove invaluable if you are planning your own web site.
The remaining topics continue to explore differences, as well as highlight some advantages in using dedicated FTP software to access FTP sites rather than your web browser.
Different protocols, similar connections
Computers on a network (the Internet may be) are able to communicate with each other using a number of different Protocols. Protocols are simply a set of rules to make sure that both computers speak the same language, hence they know what the other is saying.
The web speaks HTTP (Hypertext Text Transfer Protocol). FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is simply another protocol of the Internet, email and the newsgroups also have their own protocols.
You may have spent hours web browsing and feel comfortable with the environment, but what may be of benefit here is to look at what your web browser displays in the 'Address' (Internet Explorer) or 'Location' bar (Netscape Navigator) and to understand what this actually is.
Look just below the Tool bar buttons on your web browser. What's displayed here is the Universal Resource Locator (URL). At the moment it will more than likely be displaying the following (depending on how you entered this site):
http://www.terra-net.com/eu/index.html
The complete URL is made up of a number of components, although three are of interest here. The first part identifies the protocol, so http:// lets everyone know we're talking the web language. The second part is the address of the computer, i.e. www.terra-net.com/. The third part is the file path to the web page to display, i.e. eu/index.html.
By default, your web browser connects using the http:// protocol, therefore you do not need to type this part of the URL in. Similarly, most web servers are configured to display index.html automatically so just typing in the address part of the URL is all you need to access this site as follows:
www.terra-net.com
An FTP URL is made up of the same components. For example, the URL of our FTP site is:
ftp://ftp.terra-net.com
Just as web browsers automatically connect using the HTTP protocol, Terrapin FTP Browser will automatically connect using the FTP protocol so you only need type in the address part as follows:
ftp.terra-net.com
This will take you to the 'front door' or entry point (known as the root) of the FTP site. From there you can use Terrapin FTP Browser to navigate around just like you would navigate your own computer using the file tree in Windows Explorer.
You can specify the file path if you wish or know it (see New users FAQ - Specifying the file path) but normally you will just navigate to where you want to go from the root. Navigating FTP sites is very quick, as unlike web browsing, you won't be downloading files to display, you'll be looking through the folders on a remote computer just like you view your own PC.
The differences will be explained in greater depth in the following subsection 'Files verses web pages'. However, it may be of value to point out one subtle difference between the address part of the URL that you may or may not have noticed already.
You will see that our web address is www.terra-net.com, and our ftp address is ftp.terra-net.com (remember the address part of the URL is the bit after the relevant protocol, the http:// or ftp:// parts).This is a very common practice on the Internet. It is more than likely that your own ISP's respective ftp and web site addresses will be www.ispname.com and ftp.ispname.com.
This point will be picked up again in the document "So What's Out There?". What it means is that if you know the web address of something that interests you, more often than not if you substitute 'www' with 'ftp' as the first part of the address you will also have the FTP site address as well (if they have one). Whilst this is not always the case this can prove a handy thing to know when you are trying to find out the address of a server you want to take a look at.
Files verses web pages
One of the fundamental differences between the web and FTP is what you actually see. When you browse the web, you are making connections to a server and retrieving files which are then displayed by the web browser. The web page may contain links to other files on the same server but what you have access to and what you see is decided by the web designer.
FTP on the other hand provides you with a view of the files on the remote server as though it were your own computer. It does not display the contents of files, as a web browser does. All the files on the computer (subject to access permissions) are available to you, it is then up to you to decide which files you download and view.
To illustrate the point, open up Windows Explorer. There in front of you will be a graphical representation of the files and folders on your own computer. You can then navigate through the file tree by opening the folders until you get to the file you are looking for.
Terrapin FTP Browser will show you the files and folders on a remote server in this same familiar file tree format. You will then be able to navigate the file tree in the same way. To make life even easier Terrapin FTP Browser colour codes the folders to let you know where you have already been.
The web displays a volume of mostly graphical information and provides hot links to related material. One of these links may eventually lead to a file on an FTP Site. It is an apt approach for ad-hoc interests.
But if you are searching for information that will eventually result in a download, then as the end result will often be an FTP file, going directly to that FTP site cuts out the middle stages. It consequently saves time and patience and steers one clear of irrelevant material.
If you get to know a few good FTP sites you will never have to sit there waiting for web pages to download - unless of course you want to. There is a choice, and it can be a handy one to have as we shall see in the document "So What's Out There".
Speed
FTP is quicker!
You can take that as read if you wish, but this part will tell you why.
Firstly, you can use HTTP to download files. As discussed your web browser is simply retrieving files and then displaying them. If you are planning to build a web site and wish to offer smallish files for download then this method will be fine.
To return to the subject of speed, here is the FTP challenge. Find a file on the Internet, of a reasonable size (say 2Mb perhaps - with IE4 you're talking over 16Mb) that will be using the HTTP protocol to download it through your web browser. You will be able to tell which protocol is being used if you follow these simple steps:
i.run your mouse over the hyper text link that downloads the file
ii.look at the bottom left corner of your web browser, this is the 'Status Line' and displays the URL
iii.look at the beginning of the URL, if it begins http:// then you know it's the web protocol, if it begins ftp:// you know its
using FTP.
Once you've found an HTTP download, then find an FTP download of a file of near enough the same size. You can obviously use the same method as above to find one but the later document "So what's out there?" will give you some more tips.
Then simply connect to the FTP site with Terrapin FTP browser and start both downloads off simultaneously. The FTP download will win every time.
There are technical reason why this will be the case which relate to how the communications between local and remote computers is undertaken. With FTP a designated connection is established which remains open until you disconnect from the server, this removes the need for new connections to be made each time you want to get information.
When you start a file transfer, a separate connection is established which can be thought of as a dedicated 'pipe' between your PC and the server. The only job the 'pipe' has is to transfer large blocks of data between computers. Unlike HTTP, the communications link does not need to get involved in processing the information for display purposes. The purpose of FTP is simply the efficient transfer of files.
Resuming interrupted transfers
It has happened to us all. You start downloading a file and for some reason or other, the file transfer stops. With a web browser, even if you are downloading a file from an FTP site, that's it, time wasted. You will have to start right from the beginning again.
Not so with Terrapin FTP Browser. Should the communications link fail, it will give you the option to resume the transfer at the point of failure. This is true even if you close Terrapin FTP Browser down and switch off your PC. The next time you start Terrapin FTP you will still have the option to continue the download.
With files on the Internet forever becoming bigger and bigger the benefits of this facility are difficult to quantify, needless to say it is very valuable. On a slightly cautionary note, for this option to be available the server has to offer it. We say this just so you are aware. In truth, because it is such a valuable option the vast majority of servers do offer it. Those that do not should be.......
A two way communications protocol
Another key difference between the two protocols is that FTP is a true, two way communications protocol.
Put simply, everything you can do within the scope of the protocol can be done whether you are sending files or downloading them.
This is not so with HTTP. Yes you can download things, view web pages etc. But it has very limited sending capabilities. In fact the only methods of sending information are based around web technologies such as filling in and submitting forms on web pages.
In the everyday course of things this doesn't matter too much as you use HTTP to simply view web pages. But it is important if you are publishing web pages. FTP is the generally preferred protocol for moving your web pages from your computer to your ISP's server, and this subject will be discussed in the document "Maintaining a web site".
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