The File Transfer Protocol, or FTP, is a standard network protocol used to copy files between a client computer and a server over a TCP/IP network. American computer scientist Abhay Bhushan wrote the first specification for FTP in 1971 as part of the early ARPANET research that led to the modern internet. FTP became one of the internet's earliest widely used services for sharing software and documents, and though largely superseded by web-based and encrypted file-transfer methods for everyday use, its basic client-server design remains a reference point for later file-transfer protocols.
Facts
Patent or First-Use Date SignificanceA standard protocol for transferring computer files from a server to a client over a computer network. 1 FAQs
Why did the first File Transfer Protocol let users move files without logging in to the remote computer?
The protocol was built for indirect use: a standard set of local commands handles the differences between remote systems.
The first specification, written by A. Bhushan of MIT Project MAC and dated 16 April 1971, divided network use into two kinds. In direct use, the person is logged in to a remote host and uses it as a local user, which means learning that system's own conventions. In indirect use, an intermediate process hides most of the differences in commands and conventions, so the person needs to know only a standard set of file transfer commands on the local system. The design assumed a file transfer process at each cooperating host, speaking a common protocol. It was developed for two dissimilar systems at MIT, Multics and the PDP-10 running ITS, which have different file systems, and the authors judged that approach general enough for other hosts on the network.
Connections
In Field
Source File Transfer Protocol - Wikipedia
Invented By
Source File Transfer Protocol - Wikipedia
Sources
1. File Transfer Protocol - Wikipedia
History of FTP servers
published as RFC 114 on 16 April 1971
Infobox, date
1971 4 16
Introduction
a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client over a computer network
- In Group: Internet Communication Protocols, lead sentence: a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client over a computer network
In Field: Software Engineering, Categories
Internet Standards
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