glennw@aluxz.UUCP (08/07/83)
I have seen numerous references on the net referring to FTP. It is associated with INFO-IBMPC and [COLUMBIA-20]. As near as I can determine it is a cache of public domain software. Can anyone give me an explanation of what FTP is, how it is used, etc.? Thanks. Glenn Wesley aluxz!glennw
darrelj@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Darrel VanBuer) (08/10/83)
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, a program on APRAnet (and many local area nets as well), which is designed to reliably transfer files between hosts on a single internet. E.g. from any host on ARPA I could do: FTP COLUMBIA-20 LOGIN ANONYMOUS GUEST GET <INFO-PC>FOO.BAR (to local file) FOO.BAR BYE QUIT (diferent operating systems may slightly vary the syntax and capabilities, but all hosts are expected to support transfer of text files in a standard way (in spite of such differences as one character per 8-bit byte on PDP 11s and VAXs; 5 7-bit characters per 36-bit word on PDP-10s and even EBCDIC on IBM mainframes). Binary files are also transferable, though between sufficiently dissimilar machines, the only guarantee is that there should be a mode which would let you store and later get the file in its original form. FTP guarantees full transparency for data because TWO logical connections are used to perform the transfer, one for control (including negotiations over format), the other for actual data. Most ARPAnet hosts support the special login name ANONYMOUS with any password (convention is password is your name) for retrieval of public files, for use by FTP only. Other files may be accessed by providing a legitimate login. The following network protocols support some kind of FTP: NCP (obsolete, old ARPA protocol), TCP/IP (new DOD/ARPA protocol), PUP (Xerox PARC research Ethernet), XNS (Xerox 10M bit Ethernet) and Chaosnet (MIT research LAN). In addition these nets also support services such as virtual-terminal logins (TELNET protocols) and mail (e.g. SMTP), all multiplexed over a single physical net. Darrel J. Van Buer UUCP sdcrdcf!darrelj ARPA VANBUER@USC-ECL