File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is actually a protocol used on the Internet to transfer files from one host to another. Commonly FTP refers to an FTP Application, such as Rapid Filer for MS Windows and Fetch for Macintosh.

Basic FTP Terminology and Concepts

Basic Terminology:

host	a machine connected to the internet
remote host	the machine you connect to
local host	the machine you connect from
files	programs or text files on either the remote or local host
username	your username for the remote host
password	your password for the remote host
bin	binary file transfer, used for programs, compressed files and non-ascii documents
ascii	ascii file transfer, used for text files
anonymous	anonymous FTP, most common use of FTP
upload	transfer files from local to remote host
download	transfer files from remote to local host

Basic Concepts:

FTP is used to transfer files from one host to another. To download a file, connect from your local host, normally the PC or Mac you are using, to the Hostsafe web server. Once the connection is established, issue a get or retrieve command to download a file from the remote host to your local host.

Upload is just the opposite. After the connection is established, issue a put or send command to transfer a file from your local host to a remote host.

Programs, compressed files and any non-ascii documents should be transferred as binary files. This keeps the file intact and avoids corrupting the data stored in the file. Non-ascii files are documents, that are not straight text. For example: MS Word, WordPerfect, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access documents are all non-ascii files and should be transferred as binary data. Binary file transfer make up 99% of all file transfers. When in doubt, select binary.