When you are talking about FTP we talk about remote access and file transfer, the old way. So you can access an FTP server to upload, edit or download files from a remote computer, using this communication protocol. FTP is still used in companies to allow employees to access the general archive of files and by webmasters to manage, upload and modify files on a website.An FTP server can also be created to exchange files between computers on the same network, in the office or even at home but it doesn't make much sense. It is much earlier to share files between computers with simple settings of Windows or other operating systems. Also you can use external programs that allow the synchronization of files between computers in a much more convenient way.
Another way to use FTP is to do the download any file from the internet (also music and video), searching and connecting to public FTP servers scattered around the world.
Be that as it may, let's see what they are the best programs to have an FTP client on your Windows computer.
1) The easiest way to create an FTP server is by using a 10 year old program which remains the most used in the world: fileZilla.
FileZilla can be downloaded either in client version and in server version, it's free and oppensource and it's available for Windows, Linux and Mac.
Filezilla supporta i file transfers via FTP, SFTP, and FTPS (FTP over SSL/TLS).
FileZilla, according to Sourceforge statistics, is among the top 10 most downloaded opensource programs in the world, in the ranking of all time.
Aside from the fact that there are thousands of guides to be found on the internet, it is very easy to use and even supports drag and drop.
Filezilla exists in the portable version downloadable on the Winpenpack site.
2) The number two FTP client is WinSCP, also a very popular and free program.
This program for transferring files from an FTP server to your computer supports SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) communication and SCP (Secure Copy) usando SSH (Secure Shell). Its main purpose is to copy files between computers in absolute safety. With WinSCP you can too work on files remotely, modifying or deleting them also because there is a built-in editor to open text documents and save them after modifications. WinSCP has become very popular among users who have a iPhone unlocked with JailBreak because it becomes an easy way to transfer files from computer to iPhone and vice versa. WinSCP also exists in a portable version, useful if you want to always have it available on the USB device.
3) Who can no longer stand Filezilla because it has a very ugly interface and is always the same as himself can find better alternatives to Filezilla for WIndows using one of these three programs:
- FTP Rush, very similar but more beautiful to look at.
- Free FTP
- GoFTP which claims to be the fastest.
4) The newest program that, it really looks like the best ever to do FTP file transfer è Cyberduck, born for Macs and now also available for Windows PCs.
CyberDuck is much more than an FTP client, it allows you to access and modify files through the most used internet communication protocols.
Not only then it supports remote transfers via FTP, SFTP, FTP-SSL, but also through WebDAV e WebDAV SSL, the communication protocol http or https to download or upload files from hosting sites via the internet (only if they support it, I have already tried with SkyDrive but it doesn't work).
Furthermore Cyberduck allows you to access and manage the files stored in Amazon S3 and allows you to upload files from desktop to Google Docs.
Cyberduck supports Drag and drop, imports favorites from other FTP clients such as FileZilla, has the synchronization function and allows you to preview files before downloading or doing anything else.
5) If you prefer, you can use a FTP client integrated in the browser, by downloading and installing SFTP clients as a Chrome extension.
Finally, if you have been good at reading this far even if you didn't think you needed to install an FTP client, you might find a lot of satisfaction at search for files of any type (even mp3 or divx video) you give public FTP servers scattered around the world and with the possibility of anonymous access.
The site that allows you to search for the FTP addresses of is Oth.net.
Just connect, in FTP, to the IP addresses found to be able to download all the files you want.
Best FTP clients to access files remotely
