What is FTP software?

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) software lets you upload, download, and manage files located on a remote server. In addition to these tasks, FTP software lets you view, rename, and even edit files stored remotely. Regardless of who you are and what job you have, FTP software offers a wide range of benefits and functionalities most Internet users can't do without.

Differing Benefits For a Wide Range of Users

FTP Software offers a wide range of features and functions that a wide range of people and organizations benefit from. Regardless of the type of business you have or organization you are a member of, you can surely benefit from FTP software. FTP software helps the following organizations and individuals:

Webmasters and Online Publishers

Since your business presence is almost completely all online, FTP software packages are crucial to your operations. They help you update, manage, and archive the files stored on your server to make sure your website's operations run smoothly.

File Storage Websites

FTP software allows operators of file dumps, archive sites, and online data storage sites to give you file access using anonymous access or single or limited use login access.

Paid content Sites

Whether you are buying software, pictures, videos, ebooks, games, or documents, FTP software lets you download these files from paid content or membership sites with ease.

Business Usage

From large multi-office corporations to mom and pop businesses, FTP software helps your business move and/or archive sensitive, bulky, or otherwise restricted information from source to target destination in a secure and efficient manner. Instead of using relatively costly local media or storage devices to transport information, you can opt for faster and cheaper data transport and management using FTP software.

Government-mandated Business Communications

Depending on your jurisdiction, differing government agencies and laws might require your business to fully digitize (convert to digital form) all your business communications and files. This produces a lot of bulky data that are a hassle to move around using solid media. FTP software, properly configured according to government-mandated security protocols and settings, lets you safely move, update, and archive this bulky information cheaply and easily.

Determining Which FTP Software Package Is Best For You

While the range of people FTP software can help is vast and, really, limitless, not all FTP software packages are the same. While some FTP applications are great for users, others are enterprise-grade. While some are appropriate for users who download/manage files from time to time, others are specifically designed for power users. Regardless of which type of user you are there is an FTP package that fits you—the only question left is determining which FTP software you need. Keep the following questions in mind when considering a particular FTP application.

Will you be using FTP Software for tasks besides uploading and downloading?

If you see yourself doing a lot of file renaming, CHMOD, page or folder permission setting, moving files among many differing connections at the same time or other tasks that don't fall within the normal range of uploading and downloading files, make sure you pick an FTP package that has a robust list of features. The more features the better. You are looking for a “Swiss Army knife” type of FTP applications since your requirements might scale up as your needs change. If, however, your needs are fairly static, most simple (and free) FTP packages would be the best fit for you.

How heavy will the files be? Will you be needing multiple uploads/downloads simultaneously?

If you will be moving around and archiving heavy files and moving these around differing servers simultaneously, make sure you pick an FTP package that has an easy to understand and clear interface so you can keep track of your transfers easily. Many simple FTP software packages have file tracking or progress displays that are confusing since they only show part of what is happening or only the last few transfers that were done.

What level of security do you need?

This is the key feature where differing FTP packages differ. Differing users have differing security needs. The two most commonly requested “higher security level” security protocols required by users are Secure Shell (SSH2) and Secure Server Layer (SSL). Make sure your FTP software supports these settings at the very least. The more robust FTP packages out there support a wide range of security protocols. Depending on the security needs of your files, you might want to opt for an FTP application that supports as many security protocols.

What level of ease of use are you most comfortable with?

If you're a supergeek and can give McGyver a run for his money with how creative you can be with a piece of gum and a paper clip, the most stripped down FTP software packages would work best for you. Stripped down FTP packages have bare bones dashboards and most of the features are listed as menu bar items. As long as the FTP package careers the feature set for the particular tasks you want to achieve, if you are a very technically savvy user you can make do with even very stripped down dashboards. However, if you are, like 90% of the population, have normal levels of technical savvy, look for an FTP package that has icons for each feature or, better yet, have small text explanations for features as you hover your cursor over the icons.

The bottom line of FTP software

Whether you are a webmaster working with a vast array of pictures, videos, and files online or an office IT manager tracking and managing large volumes of archival and transactional files on a bank of remote servers or a student just having a good time and downloading movies and music files from a media distribution site, you need a solid FTP software package that can meet all your file management needs. Each and every FTP software package have differing strengths and weaknesses and you must pay careful attention to the differing criteria above to make sure you pick the right FTP tool for your particular needs and situation.