FTP Hosting for Beginners - Lesson 101

Have you ever realized why the Internet is so popular? It is because the Internet provides us with easy and fast access to all types of information and knowledge. It is the perfect platform to share information, gain knowledge, send messages, listen to music, and view graphics.

However, if you face problems in transferring this information, then the very purpose of using the Internet will fail. This is where you need the help of FTP Hosting service.

The FTP Hosting service helps you to transfer files over the Internet irrespective of the length and size of the files. The files to be transferred using FTP Hosting service can come in the form of web pages, media files, image files or text files.

Difference between Transferring Files via Emails and FTP Hosting Service

FTP Hosting service makes use of a safe and sound online file storage system. It is in this storage system that the FTP Hosting service allows you to upload all the files, irrespective of their type and size. Once you have finished uploading all the desired files, the recipient of the respective files can easily download them according to their preferred time.

You may feel that even the email can serve this purpose of transferring files. But, there are size restrictions in an email, and the email services fail to transfer large files. You may face a situation where you need to transfer files of size over 100MB – 300MB. This is when you require the help of FTP Hosting service. Moreover, emails allow you to send files from one person to another. FTP Hosting allows you to store the files in an online secured storage system from where the recipients can easily download their respective files.

How Secured is FTP Hosting?

You will be considered a good candidate for FTP Hosting service if you share large files with a number of vendors and clients. The FTP Hosting service provides you with multiple accounts, with the help of which you can easily upload and download files to and from your vendors and clients. Since this whole process involves handling a number of accounts, FTP Hosting service will also provide you with secured passwords for all the individual accounts, thus preventing one client from viewing files for other clients.

FTP Hosting service is mainly used in various organizations and firms including designer, medical practice, law, art, transcription, engineering firms and other organizations that require secure transfer of heavy files.

FTP Server & FTP Client

FTP in “FTP Hosting” stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is one of the fastest and the most effective ways of transferring large files over the Internet. In order to perform FTP Hosting, you will require two types of computers – FTP Server and FTP Client.

FTP Server – This computer runs the FTP server software. It keeps track of requests by the Client computers for connecting to a file that is uploaded on the online storage system.

FTP Client – This computer runs the FTP client software. It instigates connection to the FTP server. Once the connection is established, the client can download and upload files to and from the server, edit, delete or rename files on the server.

FTP Software

To make sure that the two computers required for FTP Hosting, FTP Server and FTP Client, are working effectively, you will require FTP Software. The software runs on the Server and Client computers and handles the smooth transferring of the files. Almost all the FTP Hosting software are easy to use. All you need to do is - install the application, fill in details of site address, name and related information, and just connect. Once connection has been restored, you can easily upload files from your PC to the site and download the files from the site to the local drive of your computer.

A number of FTP Hosting software are available - both for server and client programs. Some of them are:

WS FTP – as file transfer client software, it is the most popular. With the help of this secure software, you can quickly and easily manage all the digital information. It helps to compress files into .zip format during file transfer. It guarantees security of data with the help of 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) keys and SSL transfers.

FTP Explorer – this allows you to resume file download even after an interruption. This FTP client software is modeled after Windows Explorer interface.

Cute FTP – this is one of the widely used shareware FTP programs. This FTP Client software is developed by GlobalSCAPE. Their enhanced tools help them to manage complex data.

FTP Hosting costs only a fraction of the cost that you pay for sending files via UPS, Fed-X and various postal services. Moreover, the risk of damage and delay and the associated delivery costs are not there. Usually, you will need to pay only $3.50 every week. However, if you go for a monthly payment, you only need to pay $25.00 every month.

Adam Hobach is a Network Engineer with "InstantFTPsites.com". You can learn more about "FTP Hosting" services online at http://www.InstantFTPsites.com

© 2006 InstantFTPsites http://www.InstantFTPsites.com You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "Author Biography").

Finally, FTP Hosting That's Simple And Fast!

There is nothing safer than File Transfer Protocol (FTP) hosting services to exchange files on the World Wide Web. Compared to Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), people found FTP as an efficient communication protocol for exchanging digital data. If you are looking for fast and simple hosting service that can maintain the privacy then go for FTP. Though it is true that HTTP is a widely used communication protocol to share files but has some drawbacks. HTTP gives no guarantee about the privacy of the information that you are sharing with someone else over the Internet. Moreover, types and size of the digital file matters for exchanging information through Hyper Text Transfer Protocol.

FTP hosting service comes with all the features, which simplify the process of sharing information online by keeping the privacy of the content. Not only for sending files or messages, you can use FTP hosting services for several purposes like – online auction, business communication, downloading graphic and/or multimedia files, downloading software, etc. FTP hosting service supports uploading/downloading all types of files (e.g., text files, image files, audio files, video files, multimedia files etc.) irrespective of their size.

To enjoy the fast and reliable communication protocol you have to register for a FTP hosting service. FTP hosting service comes with wide array of features and two basic components – FTP Server and FTP Client. FTP hosting service transfers digital information from one node (computer) to another through the FTP server. FTP service provider will allocate space for you in their server and allow you to create FTP account for the users to communicate. Files are uploaded and stored in the server. FTP account holders, who are authorized to access the allocated site, can download copies of the files, which are uploaded. This is considered as a convenient and safe way for exchanging digital information by protecting unwanted third party from accessing the content.

Easy to configure

Initially you have to configure an FTP Client to upload and download digital files from a registered FTP hosting account. FTP hosting service provider will allocate required space in the FTP server with a domain name. It is recommended to apply for FTP hosting service with a domain name that is similar to the web address of your business. The configuration of FTP Client is as simple as creating an Email account. You have to set FTP Client under the registered FTP site. You have to define a unique username and password. For example, ftp.domainname.com is a host and john@domainname.com is the username through which a registered FTP account holder can upload and download digital files.

Managing sites through Control Panel

FTP hosting service comes with the feature of Control Panel. As you register for an FTP Site, the service provider will supply you a unique username and password to administer the allocated space. You can administer your own FTP Site through the Control Panel. The design of the control panel is quite user friendly and allow you to perform following tasks:

• Add or remove FTP user for your domain
• Change the password of FTP user account
• Integrate users in groups to share information
• Allocate disk space for FTP users of your domain
• Manage directory and the service period for the FTP users of your site.

Cost of FTP Hosting Services

The market has become competitive and you can easily find a suitable FTP hosting service at an affordable price. Though the price of FTP Service varies from one service provider to another but the price of FTP hosting service depends upon the service period and facilities applied by the customer.

Therefore it can be said that the cost of FTP hosting services and FTP Software are quite inexpensive and suitable for all types of business processes. Moreover you can easily manage your FTP site with little knowledge on FTP Software and related technical issues.

Adam is a Network Engineer with "InstantFTPsites.com". You can learn more about "FTP Hosting" services online at http://www.InstantFTPsites.com

© 2006 InstantFTPsites http://www.InstantFTPsites.com You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "Author Biography").

FTP Hosting Security - Comparison between SSL, TLS, and SSH

FTP Hosting Services – A Security Overview

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) defines the set of rules to transfer files over the Internet. FTP hosting services allows the service holder to exchange large files from one computer to another in a secured mode. FTP Hosting service has two main components – FTP Server and Client Server. Irrespective of file size and file type, you can exchange information through FTP server. People with authentic FTP account can download the copies of the files from FTP server. Each FTP account comes with unique user name and password. Therefore, only the authorized user can access the uploaded files.

File Transfer Protocol has several advantages over Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. Compared to FTP, exchanging large files over the Internet through HTTP is less secured and allows unauthorized user or hackers to access the information. FTP hosting services restricts unauthorized users to access digital data by providing separate FTP account for each user.

Security features

It can be said that there is nothing better than FTP hosting services to exchange digital information in a secured mode across WWW. The importance of FTP hosting services has increased significantly in all types of industries. Be it a Health Care Sector or large Engineering Firm, FTP is the right option to share all types of files (e.g., text, image, audio, multimedia etc.) through a single server – FTP Server. FTP hosting services, which are HIPAA compliant encrypts contents and upload the files in the server. Encryption is the secure method that converts readable information into unreadable format by keeping the content unchanged. This is considered as the ultimate security measure and restricts unauthorized to view the actual content of the files.

Following are some remarkable security protocols:

SSL

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a significant security protocol that offers privacy of communication over the Internet. You can make File Transfer Protocol more secure by using the system over Secure Sockets Layer. The basic objective of SSL is to maintain privacy and trustworthiness in web based communication system. Following are some basic properties of connection security in SSL Protocol:

• SSL Protocol use symmetric cryptography for data encryption and maintains ultimate privacy during web based communication.
• All the messages, which are exchanged over the Internet, are checked during transmission. This feature provides the reliability of the web based communication.

Secure Sockets Layer comes with the feature of cryptographic security to create secured connection between two computers over the Internet. Moreover you are free to incorporate other encryption methods in a SSL framework. This will lower the effort of installing new security library as well as eliminate the requirement of creating new set of protocols.

It is observed that cryptographic operations, especially key operations, depend upon the hardware configuration of CPU. Secure Sockets Layer protocol comes with the feature ‘optional session caching’, which optimizes the number of connections and network activity to make the communication process efficient.

TLS

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is another security protocol to ensure privacy and data-integrity during web based communication between two applications. Like SSL Protocol, TLS Protocol also comes with two components – TLS Record Protocol and TLS Handshake Protocol. Basic properties of TLS Protocol are as follows:
TLS Protocol encrypts data by symmetric cryptography and ensures privacy during web based communication process.
All the messages, which are exchanged over the Internet, are checked while transmitting from one computer to another. This feature provides the reliability of the web based communication.
TLS protocol restricts unauthorized users to interfere as a third party in the middle of a communication process over the Internet. The third party will take part in the communication only after detected by the two authorized communicators or users.

Transport Layer Security Protocol comes with the cryptographic security to provide ultimate privacy between two users. Like SSL, Transport Layer security Protocol is extensible, i.e., you can incorporate new encryption methods in the TLS framework. By this you can reduce the effort of creating new protocols as well as eliminate the necessity of implementing new set of security library.

Cryptographic operations provided by Transport Layer Security Protocol depend upon the technical configuration of the CPU. These features are also similar to Secure Sockets Layer Protocol. ‘Optional session caching’ is available in TLS Protocol that optimizes the number of connections and network activity to make the communication process efficient.

SSH

Secure Shell (SSH) comes with the feature of encrypted channels. You can use Secure Shell to access another computer over the Internet and can execute command on a remote computer. Moreover, like File Transfer Protocol you can transfer files from one computer to another through WWW (World Wide Web). Transferring files over the Internet requires sufficient security measures to protect the privacy of digital information. With Secure Shell you can efficiently establish encrypted communication between two computers by protecting the information from accessing by any unauthorized third party.

Standard FTP hosting service does not encrypt digital information while transferring files from over the Internet. Secure FTP or SFTP, on the other hand, comes with the features of Secure Shell and encrypts digital data when transferring from one computer to another. Further, SFTP also prevents passwords and responsive information from being transferred from one computer to another over the Internet. Since the Protocols are different in Standard FTP and SFTP, it is not possible for the users to integrate a standard FTP client with an SFTP server or a simple FTP server with a client using SFTP service.

Adam is a Network Engineer with "InstantFTPsites.com". You can learn more about "FTP Hosting" services online at http://www.InstantFTPsites.com.

© 2006 InstantFTPsites http://www.InstantFTPsites.com You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "Author Biography").

Windows vs. Linux - Which Is Better?

For basic HTML web sites, there is no apparent difference.

As you may have guessed, Windows and
Linux accounts are differentiated by the operating system platform that the server runs on.

Windows is a Windows 2000 (or the new Windows server 2003), which are both very much like the Microsoft Windows 98, XP, etc...Except, web server versions are more specialized for hosting web sites and server applications that standard PC operating
systems.

Linux is an alternative operating system platform originally developed from open source code and Unix (not from a software corporate giant, like Microsoft). It is not very popular in the Desktop PC market, but has become huge in
the server arena with versions like RedHat, Debian, CentOS and others.

Q: I have a Windows PC, does this mean I need Windows web hosting?
A: No - That does not matter.

So, which one is better for a basic website?

Performance-wise, it is hard to tell any difference at all. With Linux, you tend to get more "bang for the buck", since there are not the extensive licensing fees as are associated with a Microsoft product. You will notice that in web hosting plans, the Linux accounts typically cost a little less than the Windows hosting accounts.

For the beginning webmaster or hobbyist, Linux seems to be a good starting place due to it's affordability and versatility. You may find it interesting that about 2/3 of all web sites are hosted on Linux platform. About 1/4 are Windows driven.

For the advanced web developer, the opposing platforms represent different flavors of technology associated to each. For example, Microsoft developers can use "Access Database" and "ASP Script"- while
Linux developers can use "MOD_PERL" and "MYSQL Database" (with HostNed, PHP, CGI and Perl are supported on both platforms). All of this garble is simply different technologies for driving dynamic and very complex sites (like auction sites or shopping malls).

Whichever one you choose, it is not a big deal. Both Linux and Windows are excellent server platforms that can be a very fast and reliable vessel to serve up your website to the world!

Contributed by Dan Wright, Owner/GM of HostNed.com - Affordable web hosting for personal and small business websites.

Professional Web Site Hosting

Professional website hosting provides you with not just a storage space for your content, but a comprehensive tool kit to get you started on a website and help you maintain a professional website. Professional web hosts give you easy-to-use website builders and user-friendly online control panels. This kind of web hosting is specially targeted at business men for whom a high standard website is an asset. Since you pay your host for their services, it saves you workforce for website maintenance and upkeep. You need not worry about server crashes and technical hitches. You can be rest assured that your clientele has easy access to your business services.

A few tips will help you choose the right website host for your business and guarantee efficient services. The main thing of course, will be to approach a reliable web hosting service that provides you with decent amount of server space to host your site. Technical support and user friendly website builders are characteristic to most professional website hosts. You should be looking at what kind of special features you need in your website and how much you can afford to spend on it. Your website host should also give you some flexibility to move around and grow with your business and the hits on your site.

Future Quest Inc is a good web host with a variety of offers to suit different business concerns. Their services include PHP secure mode, extractions of virus infected emails, C, C++ , 100 GB bandwidth and 2,500 MB disk space. They also have add-on features like extra domains and sub domains. Their hosting fee per month ranges from approximately $10 dollars a month to $100 dollars a month.

Small business at yahoo.com is a very popular web host and attracts a large number of clients owing to their reliability and efficient support. Their professional web hosting package costing approximately $30 includes 1000 email addresses and 20GB disk space.

Professional Web Hosting provides detailed information on Professional Web Hosting, Professional Web Site Hosting, Professional Web Hosting Designs, Professional Web Site Hosting Services and more. Professional Web Hosting is affiliated with Web Hosting Solutions.

Canadian E Commerce Web Hosting

Online purchases in Canada totaled about $8.5 million Canadian dollars in 2004. Most of these items included books and reservations for travel and lodging. Only thirty-six percent of Canadian businesses have a website presence. The adoption for small, medium, and large businesses is slowly increasing at a rate of two to three percentage points. The rapid advances in technology have resulted in consumer confidence in private data protection, increasing the online sales.

E-commerce is a way of doing consumer-oriented business transactions over the Internet. This is actually retailing in the Internet format. Just as in a supermarket, online consumers choose products by navigating the site along the categories of products and make payments online using credit cards. The products are then delivered within a certain period.

Web hosting is one of the links in the e-commerce process. The chain is formed by different links such as websites, shopping processes, credit card processing, and merchant accounts. Websites are hosted by an external provider or perhaps the business itself. The shopping process is actually a shopping cart that allows the selection of products just like placing the products in a supermarket cart. When the customer finalizes the buying process by filling in the credit card form, the credit card is processed to check the validity of the card. The processed information is sent to a merchant, who credits to the account of the business.

The value of web hosting lies in providing the seamless transfer of the process between various links. The web host could also add value by designing the site for the shopping cart and processing the credit card. It could also provide value-added information about the e-commerce process to the clients in order to make the process clear.

The value addition in the chain puts web hosting services at $200 and more. Many web hosting providers have combined with credit card processors to add value. Some of the main issues in deciding on an e-commerce host are bandwidth, security, back-end integration, reliability, and server set up.

Canadian Web Hosting provides detailed information on Canadian Web Hosting, Cheap Canadian Web Hosting, Canadian E Commerce Web Hosting, Canadian Web Hosting Resellers and more. Canadian Web Hosting is affiliated with Dedicated Internet Hosting.

Professional Web Site Hosting Services

A businessperson looking for a professional web hosting company and is a novice in web technology will need to choose a web hosting service provider with certain standard services that keep the website up and running. The first thing to look for is whether they provide you with your own chosen domain name. A business website on a subdomain will only take clients away to other professionally maintained websites of your competitors. And if you are expecting regular traffic on your website, go for a company that provides you with a server on your own.

The type of internet connection offered by the company is also equally important. T1 lines or T3 lines are ideal for websites. It is not advisable to go for dial-up connections as they are slow. There are companies that handle your domain registration process and that you have full control over any content on your website. Your website is your window to the world. You cannot afford to have it unavailable to your clients even for a short period of time. Make sure the web hosting service provides you with technical support round the clock and guarantees 99% uptime. You just cannot afford to have your website down.

Email services are provided by most web hosts and are an essential feature of any business website. You need to give free email ids to your employees and services. Most web hosts also set up your site for free and charge only for the upkeep. But you need to go in for a host that will provide you with PHP, CGI/Perl, MS Frontpage and MySql. It is important to have an autoresponder as well.

Go for web programming services and web administration services if you don’t think you can manage it yourself. And choose design templates in tune with your business processes. And choose a server software that is best suited to your needs. Choose a host who gives you Telnet and FTP access for uploading files and for CGI script editing.

If you choose a web host with some of these basic services, you will be able to keep a site that gives your client maximum information about your company.

Professional Web Hosting provides detailed information on Professional Web Hosting, Professional Web Site Hosting, Professional Web Hosting Designs, Professional Web Site Hosting Services and more. Professional Web Hosting is affiliated with Web Hosting Solutions.