How Do I "FTP", and What Does That Mean, Anyway?

Have you ever tried sending an email with too many pictures, only to have it refused? What about having a nice big movie you made in iMovie, but it's too big to send to anyone? Ever wonder about how people manage websites once they out grow iWeb? Well, FTP is the answer to all these situations.

FTP is a way to access and manage files on another computer (often a web server) that could be anywhere in the world. The Wikipedia definition sums it up quite nicely:

FTP or File Transfer Protocol is used to transfer data from one computer to another over the Internet, or through a network.

And because the other computer can be anywhere or anyone's, there is a security layer to prevent unauthorized access that is often the hurdle that prevents more people from using FTP more often. But all the information you really need to access the other computer is its address, and an authorized user name, and its password. Not too tough, right?

And if you you need to do more than download a file from somewhere else, you will need a FTP application (see below). These applications are kind of like the Finder application you use on your Mac, but they are for managing the distant computer like you manage your Mac with the Finder. Plus, most FTP programs will remember the security info once you enter it the first time.

There are two things I use FTP for on a regular basis:

1. Downloading some files from the Internet - for example, Mozilla (a software developer) has an FTP site where you can download the latest version of its Firefox web browser.
2. Managing a website - online web hosting (companies that will allow you to store files with them) usually allows FTP access to let you upload files to the Internet. You'll mainly be uploading your own files here, and other people will download them via a web browser o create a web page.

In Mac OS X, there is some basic capability for FTP built into the Finder - however, you can only download files and not upload them.

To FTP download with the Finder, choose the Go menu from the top of the screen, and then Connect to Server... - this will present you with a dialog box asking you to enter the server name. As an example, enter the following and click Connect:

ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/

You'll now see files and folders where Mozilla stores their data for others to download - note that you won't be able to edit any of the files here, as they belong to Mozilla.

Other FTP Applications

For more functionality, you'll need to use another application on your Mac - the Finder is quite simplistic in its approach to FTP. Cyberduck is a good, free program that will allow you to upload to, manage, and download from FTP sites. For example, if you're running a website you could drop a new version of a file onto the application window, and it uploads it for you.

One step up is an application called Transmit from Panic, which offers more features then Cyberduck. It looks nicer, and integrates better with Mac OS X. For example, Transmit provides 'droplets' to upload files. These are shortcut icons in the Finder to a folder on the other computer, so you can just drop files on the droplet and Transmit will automagically launch a connection, copy your files to the distant folder, and then shut back down in one step. Pretty neat! But it's for you to decide whether it's worth the $30 price tag. Have a look at Panic's web site for more information about it.

FTP Alternatives

Email is probably the most used way of sending files to another computer. But many email providers and ISPs (for example Windows Live Hotmail) impose a limit on the maximum size of attachments - this limit can be anything from 1MB to 20MB. When you imagine that a typical digital photograph is around 3MB, using email to send your holiday photos isn't ideal. In theory there is no maximum file size for FTP; the only bottleneck would be your connection speed.

There are other services - such as YouSendIt - which allow you to send larger files (up to 100MB for free, in this case). You use your web browser to send the file to YouSendIt's servers with the email address of your recipients, and they will send them an email with a link to the file that they can download through their web browser.

There are still other alternatives for sending and receiving large files, but none of them have the complete control and universality that FTP gives you. If you have a favorite, let us know in the Comments section below.

So try out FTP the next time you need to get or send a big file or manage a website. It's one of those things that is intimidating the first time around because it's unfamiliar, and then easy as pie the second time. And let us know about your favorite FTP program in the Comments section below!

DIG DEEPER

File Transfer Protocol on Wikipedia
Cyberduck - free FTP application 
Transmit - $30, more advanced FTP application
More FTP applications on Download.com 
Using the Finder: Connecting to shared computers and servers using a network address 

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