What does FTP mean? And how can it benefit you

The acronym FTP stands for ‘file transfer protocol’ a term that is used frequently by people such as web developers and photographers. You may have heard this term before and are wondering what is and why it is used.
The simple and short answer, FTP is an avenue to transfer files online. FTP is not the only protocol, you may have heard of HTTP, IMAP and POP, XMPP and even DNS, all of which are used for specific tasks.

With FTP though its purpose is to transfer files from one place to another. You can do this by using an FTP client with the most popular one being Filezilla. Using a tool like Filezilla will allow you to connect to an FTP server where you can download files from the server or upload files to that server from your device.

What is FTP for?

If you are just a general computer user who browser Facebook and does the odd Google search you will probably find no use in FTP. However if you are a web developer or aspiring to be a web developer, FTP is a fundamental process in your work.

There are many examples of how web developers used FTP. A common example would be moving the files that build a website to another server as your client wants to migrate to a different hosting package.
It should be noted though – it is not just web developers who use FTP and perhaps you should consider how FTP could help your business or job. An example of how FTP has helped increase productivity in another line of work would be professional photography – where you can send files using FTP directly from your camera back to your office.

To finish

Understanding FTP and how it can be used could prove to be revelation in your business or your line of work. If you are someone who frequently moves files from one place to another by using a memory stick or by email, then FTP could really benefit you – however alternatively you may want to look at working from the cloud.