File Transfer Protocol Client

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What Does File Transfer Protocol Client Mean?

A File Transfer Protocol client (FTP client) is a software utility that establishes a connection between a host computer and a remote server, typically an FTP server. An FTP client provides the dual-direction transfer of data and files between two computers over a TCP network or an Internet connection. An FTP client works on a client/server architecture, where the host computer is the client and the remote FTP server is the central server.

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Techopedia Explains File Transfer Protocol Client

An FTP client primarily provides a reliable means to transfer data between a local and remote host. It works when the host computer connects to the FTP server by specifying the domain, IP address, username and password of that server. After the user authentication, a connection is established between both systems, and the host computer can upload data onto the FTP server. An FTP client generally supports one or multiple simultaneous file transfers. Moreover, most FTP clients have the ability to connect to multiple FTP servers simultaneously, providing status updates of the uploading process, and notifications about successful and failed transfers. Besides uploading, the host computer can also download files from the FTP server using the FTP client.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.