An FTP server is
computer
A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
software
Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications.
The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
consisting of one or more
programs that can execute commands given by remote
client(s) such as receiving, sending, deleting
files, creating or removing
directories, etc. The software may run as a
software component
A software component is a modular unit of software that encapsulates specific functionality. The desired characteristics of a component are reusability and maintainability.
Value
Components allow software development to assemble software ...
of a program, as a standalone program or even as one or more
process
A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic.
Things called a process include:
Business and management
* Business process, activities that produce a specific s ...
es (in the background).
An FTP server plays the role of a
server in a
client–server model
The client–server model is a distributed application structure that partitions tasks or workloads between the providers of a resource or service, called servers, and service requesters, called clients. Often clients and servers communicate ov ...
using the
FTP
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and dat ...
and/or the
FTPS
FTPS (also known as FTP-SSL and FTP Secure) is an extension to the commonly used File Transfer Protocol (FTP) that adds support for the Transport Layer Security (TLS) and, formerly, the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL, which is now prohibited by RFC756 ...
and/or the
SFTP network protocol(s).
An FTP server can also be intended as a computer that runs an FTP server program to host collections of files. Big FTP sites can be run by many computers in order to be able to serve the desired maximum number of clients connected to servers.
A client program connects to an FTP server, then, unless anonymous access is enabled, it has to authenticate itself by sending
username
A user is a person who uses a computer or Computer network, network Service (systems architecture), service.
A user often has a user account and is identified to the system by a username (or user name).
Some software products provide serv ...
and
password
A password, sometimes called a passcode, is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of password-protected services t ...
; after that it can retrieve and/or send files to the server along with other operations (depending on user's privileges).
See also
*
Server (computing)
A server is a computer that provides information to other computers called " clients" on a computer network. This architecture is called the client–server model. Servers can provide various functionalities, often called "services", such as sh ...
*
File Transfer Protocol
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and d ...
*
Comparison of FTP server software packages
References
{{Reflist
Servers (computing)
FTP server software