FTP and Archie

FTP

Use

 Method to transfer files (both ASCII and binary) between computers on the Internet.
Anonymous FTP gives limited access to a computer to allow "guest" users to download files without requiring an account on the remote computer.

Protocol

 FTP: File Transfer Protocol.

URL

ftp://computer/directory/file

Example: ftp://lupine.mbl.edu/temp/foo.txt

Note, WWW Browsers only support anonymous FTP. A separate FTP client is necessary if you need to access files that are outside of the anonymous FTP directory hierarchy.

For anonymous FTP, use anonymous as the username and your email as the password.

For standard FTP, use the username and password you normally use to login to the computer.

FTP Clients

  • WS_FTP A good freeware FTP client.
  • CuteFTP A slightly better shareware client.
  • Most operating systems have a text based FTP client built-in, just type ftp at the command line prompt.

Archie

Use

 A searchable database of files that can be accessed via anonymous FTP over the Internet. Archie is a useful way to search for a program if you know its filename, or some part there of.

Clients