FTP is defined as File Transfer Protocol and is a method of moving or viewing files from one place to another. If you are running an FTP server, you can send files to users in a remote location, who can then access the files under a certain username and password combination. Once the configurations have been established for how the server works and how it accesses the internet, you can start using it for file sharing.
Read our guide below carefully to make sure you don’t miss any steps and you can build your own FTP server for free.
Why might you want to set up an FTP server?
You may be wondering how an FTP server can benefit you compared to using file sharing services like Dropbox, SkyDrive, etc. Although the latter services are good for online file storage. online and share them with friends who have access to good download speeds, but you don’t’ they have no restrictive controls in place. While this is a positive view of using an FTP server, there will always be downsides.
Advantage:
- It’s cheaper to buy hard drive space and install your own server than using online hosting.
- You have full control over how your files are transferred when using your own service. For example, you can’t specify users in Dropbox and easily track who downloaded files like you can with your own FTP program.
- You can prohibit certain IP addresses from accessing your files (or explicitly allow only certain IP addresses to have access). Online services do not allow this kind of restriction.
Defect:
- Your disk space is limited by the capacity of your physical hard drive, while online services allow you to purchase more virtual space.
- The computer (FTP server) needs to be running at all times for you to access.
- If using an FTP server as a backup solution, it’s not as secure as a premium online backup service, where most use redundancy to keep data alive.
- There are fewer security measures (different authentication methods) to secure passwords when using FTP transfers than HTTP
Here’s how to set it up.
How to set up an FTP server
We will be using a free FTP server program called Quick ‘n Easy FTP Server Lite. This program allows separate user accounts to be able to set different permissions and passwords accordingly. After setting up this program, we will configure the router to allow data to pass through the appropriate FTP server.
Here are a few other free FTP server programs you might like:
- FileZilla
- Xlight FTP Server
- All-in-one Server SYSAX
Fast and easy FTP server setup
Step 1. Download the program here, then open the file with a free compression program.
You’ll want to launch a file named FTPServer.exe.
Step 2. Initial account setup.
Enter any name here, like Administrators or your own name. You will need to remember this to log in again in the future.
Press Next and now choose a password. Make sure this is something you can easily remember but not so simple to guess. If you’re going to have sensitive files on your server, the last thing you want is to be hacked.
Click Next to choose one home directory With this account. This is where data will be allowed to be downloaded or uploaded. If you plan to use a lot of data, choose a folder on the drive with plenty of free space.
The next page is for file permissions. Since this first account is an administrator account, we’ll give it all permissions, so put a check mark next to each entry.
Press Next to complete the account creation.
Step 3. Now that an account is set up, we can configure access to the server.
Click Launch the FTP Setup Wizard to start the wizard needed to set how the file server is accessed.
Click Next on the initial window to enter FTP port setting. We will keep the default value of 21.
The next step asks about how you connect to the internet. We are working behind a router, so we will choose the second option. If you don’t have a router, just choose the default option.
If you chose the second option like we did, write down the number 21 to keep in mind when we’re in the router settings.
Click Next in the FTP program and note the additional ports that we have to forward to the local IP address. These also need to be entered into the router, so write them down.
Set up your router
Step 1. Open your router’s settings page. Ours is http://192.168.1.2.
Step 2. Enter the port we found in the previous step, so 21, then the resulting IP should be the computer hosting the FTP program. This particular port needs to be entered in a set of settings like Single port forwarding or a similar term. Make sure to save the settings after editing.
Cool Tip: Find your local IP address by going to the command prompt and typing ipconfig and find out IPv4 addresses.
Step 3. Now that a port has been forwarded, we need to set up the other numbers you wrote down but this time in a section called Port range forwarding. We have to use a different part because we are working with a range (the second numbers you wrote down) and not a port.
Save settings. You can now exit the router configuration page, as we have completed the forwarding rules.
Use an easy and fast FTP server
Now that we have an administrator account set up and the right configuration in place to use the server from a remote location, the only other thing to do is to have an access point that you can share with people to use its server and to set up appropriate accounts for speakers.
Create more users
Make users like we did Administrators account.
Step 1. Above Home page page, click User Account Management.
Step 2. Select Add new users from the left sidebar.
Step 3. Fill in user information. Enter the username in the first prompt as follows:
Then select the user and enter a Password And Road for account. Also includes appropriate Permission. Most of the time, the recommendation is to only allow the user to download the file. Unless this user needs to upload, it’s best practice to only allow download permissions.
Set up access from outside the local network
In a nutshell, we’ve set up the proper configurations for both the router and the FTP program, as well as added an additional user. Now that we have everything set up, we need a way to access the FTP server from a remote location. The simplest method is to find the external IP address. See our post here on one method of this, using WhatsMyIP.us.
1. Open WhatsMyIp.us and notice your external IP.
2. Share this address with the person who needs to access your server and they will be prompted for a password they can use to log in.
Conclusion
It is important to note that each of the above steps is required to get the FTP server up and running. We tried our best to make them complete. Once you’ve properly set up your router (if you have one) and the FTP program, you’re well on your way to sharing all your files with whoever you like.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
