IS HTTP THE SAME AS FTP

[Marine14231]

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[Hamblue]

No

FTP stands for file transfer protocol. I have one and use it to transfer large files to people.

[WildBillKelsoe]

No.

 

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host or to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet.

 

HTTP is an application protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems.[1] HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web.

 

To answer both yer threads, get a computer geek friend to help you download the file.

[Lange_666]

Like the ones above me say:

 

NO, it's not the same (details in their answers).

 

 

But...

 

 

YES, if you just want to download a file, it doesn't matter where or how it's coming to your computer. There's a Torrent option also which gives you the option to download the entire bunch of files or separate files if needed (your torrent client will give you that option). In the end you'll end up with the file you need, no matter what protocol you use.

[BHawthorne]

Hyper Text Transport Protocol is typically on port 80. File Transfer Protocol is typically on port 20 and 21.

[EtherealN]

I think you are confusing him with unecessary details. Basically, as far as how he uses it through the browser to retrieve the file, FTP and HTTP are "the same". They're technically different in a lot of ways, but not in a way that forces him to worry about which one he selects.

[159th_Viper]

.....but not in a way that forces him to worry about which one he selects.

 

If you have a less-than-stellar net download speed, check the HTTP vs FTP links for the better download. I used to find that HTTP always downloaded faster from the States than the FTP from Germany, for example.

 

But as E says, apart from the speed issue and the propensity of FTP links to give errors as a result of overcrowding, no difference whatsoever to the end-user. Just different portals leading to the same place.

[Yurgon]

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host or to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet.

 

While the statement itself is correct, you could say exactly the same about HTTP and that would be equally correct. :)

 

To answer both yer threads, get a computer geek friend to help you download the file.

 

I think mankind has reached a milestone where downloading a file from the Internet should not require help from computer geeks anymore. That was more like 1895 or so. :lol:

 

Coming back on topic, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a tad older than HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). While the Internet was growing, FTP was used to transfer files between computers. Typically, it was necessary to log in to a remote computer and then specify the file to be up- or downloaded. FTP clients used to be text based, so you had to type in the commands (today, there are FTP clients with graphical user interfaces, and most HTTP browsers also "speak" FTP).

 

HTTP was developed with ease of use in mind. The basic idea is that a webpage can include "links" or "hyperlinks". By simply clicking the link with the mouse cursor, the browser is instructed to open a network connection and download the linked file. If the file includes, for example, images, the browser should automatically download these images and display them inside the webpage. Basically, webbrowsers do a lot of stuff automatically that was not automated in FTP clients.

 

Because of these (and other) differences, the creators of HTTP decided to develop a network protocol of their own rather than use an existing one. In detail, HTTP and FTP are very different from each other.

 

But as I said above, most browsers are capable of transferring files via FTP, even though their "native language" is HTTP.

 

One more thing, because it was already mentioned: Torrents. BitTorrent is yet another network protocol, with a focus on distributed file transfers. While FTP and HTTP typically transfer one file from one computer to another, BitTorrent transfers bits of files from and to multiple computers at the same time. From the perspective of someone hosting a file (like Eagle Dynamics), FTP and HTTP both require them to have web- and/or file servers running 24/7. With BitTorrent, they only need to get the file distributed once, and (theoretically) they could then go offline and users could transfer the file between each other over the Internet.

 

The big bonus of BitTorrent is that for files that are well available, it is a lot faster than FTP and HTTP. The downside is that only a few webbrowsers include native support for BitTorrent, so you may have to download an additional BitTorrent client in order to use it. Personally, I use µTorrent, but there are dozens of BitTorrent clients available.

 

Over-simplified, it looks like this:

HTTP: Download

FTP: Upload and/or download

BitTorrent: Upload and download simultaneously

 

Finally, I'd like to clarify that most of the above statements are simplified in a way that they are not always technically correct (for instance, HTTP can also be used to upload files, "file" should actually be called "resource" in most cases, "computer" should be called "host" and so on). But I hope that these errors and omissions make the explanation more understandable.

[EtherealN]

If you have a less-than-stellar net download speed, check the HTTP vs FTP links for the better download. I used to find that HTTP always downloaded faster from the States than the FTP from Germany, for example.

 

That is actually a bit of an abberation, one that I would hypothesize is caused by the FTP servers being under a heavier load. HTTP is, from a technical standpoint, vastly inferior to FTP when it comes to speedy and reliable transfer of large files. (HTTP is built for many small files, FTP is built for one big.)

 

Of course, of people habitually select the FTPs under that expectation, it can cause the FTP servers to get overloaded and the HTTP ones to be lighly loaded simply as an effect of people's expectations when selecting server...

 

EDIT: Can't give rep to you Yurgon, must spread first, but good one. :)

Edited December 31, 2012 by EtherealN