File
Transfer Protocol, or FTP, is a protocol
used to upload
files from a workstation
to a FTP server
or download
files from a FTP server to a workstation. It is the way that files get
transferred from one device to another in order for the files to be available on
the Internet. When ftp appears in a URL
it means that the user is connecting to a file server and not a Web
server and that some form of file transfer is going to take place. Most FTP
servers require the user to log
on to the server in order to transfer files.
In contrast, Hyper
Text Transfer Protocol, or HTTP, is a protocol used to transfer files from a
Web server onto a browser
in order to view a Web page that is on the Internet. Unlike FTP, where entire
files are transferred from one device to another and copied into memory, HTTP
only transfers the contents of a web page into a browser for viewing. FTP is a
two-way system as files are transferred back and forth between server and
workstation. HTTP is a one-way system as files are transported only from the
server onto the workstation's browser. When http appears in a URL it
means that the user is connecting to a Web server and not a file server. The
files are transferred but not downloaded, therefore not copied into the memory
of the receiving device.
