FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
Like many terrific discoveries, (re)discovering FTP to upload my files to the FortuneCity server happened as a result of agonizing frustration. FortuneCity is just too good for me to pass up or give up on. Where else, can I get 10 Megabytes of free server space - FREE for Tawanda's personal web internet presence - BIG enough for pictures, sound files, expansion.
My first page on the Geocities server was nice. Then came those infuriating pop-ups... (When I surf, I don't accept Cookies either.) My FortuneCity server is located in London, England. FortuneCity has mirror servers in Germany, etc, growing at a fantastic rate. Growth requires More and Faster hardware and software. A short month ago, February 1998, I experienced a minimal wait to use the FortuneCity File Manager Transfer utility.
For the past 3 days, unsuccessfully, I tried to upload hundreds of times, including 3am one morning. Well, not wanting to give up a good thing, I asked myself "what haven't I tried?" As the webmaster for Earth Changes - TV, I upload to the Seattle Eskimo server using good old vanilla DOS FTP. "Couldn't hurt." thinks me to myself. Surprise: It took mere seconds to do the deed using FTP.
Things you need to know
- You can upload "put" files from your hard drive computer to your server directory.
- You can download "get" files from your server directory to your computer hard drive.
- There are two basic types of datafiles: ascii and binary.
- ASCII files are text type files, that end in HTML or TXT.
- BINARY files are graphic type files that end in GIF, JPG, JPEG, MID, MIDI, WAV, etc.
- When you see SPACE, it means hit your space bar between commands.
- When you see RETURN, it means hit your Enter or Return key.
- If you want to exit FTP quickly, you can hit Ctrl and C at the same time. That is a non-orderly exit.
FTP Commands
open - open a connection to a server.
dir - look at the filesnames in your server directory.
ascii - define data type to text style before transfer.
binary - define data type to graphic style before transfer.
put - transfer a file from your computer to the server.
get - transfer a file from the server to your computer.
? - what are the commands allowed on this server.
close - close the connection to a server.
quit - quit FTP.
How to FTP FortuneCity.
- Connect to your ISP Internet Service Provider.
- Invoke FTP.
For Windows95, click on START then Run then Open then type in "FTP" then OK.
From the Black DOS window the prompt FTP> indicates that you are connected.
- FTP> open SPACE ftp.fortunecity.com RETURN
- FTP> yourid RETURN
- FTP> yourpassword RETURN
- FTP> dir RETURN
- FTP> ascii RETURN
- FTP> put SPACE c:/yourdirectoryname/filename.html RETURN
- FTP> binary RETURN
- FTP> put SPACE c:/yourdirectoryname/filename.gif RETURN
- FTP> ? RETURN
- FTP> close RETURN
- FTP> quit RETURN
Fast, fast, fast and easy!
Nothing left, but check out your updated page!
Some FTP nostalgia.
In 1991, when I first discovered the web on the internet, I was using FTP to transfer data from one computer to another. Our multi-media guru showed me his work on our intranet web. I had to have it!
At that time, we thought that the web had potential in information retrieval technology. No one had any idea that it could replace the telephone and postal service as a communication media.
At work, I requested the software so that I could define my PC as an X terminal. I set up a few accounts on UNIX machines, then got permission to pass the firewall. At first I surfed using Anonymous FTP. I could browse UNIX /PUB directories all over the world! But as my excitement grew, I downloaded the XMosaic GUI browser from Cern Switzerland. This was considered personal R&D, so I had to limit my exploration to my coffee breaks and lunch. My cubemates picked up my excitement, as I taught them the basics.
Now that we have sophisticated GUI browsers, Anonymous FTP seems archaic. Then, the only ones surfing were computer professionals and UNIX gurus. Now, 8 year olds and Grandmas surf effortlessly. Or, as POGO sums it up, "I've seen the enemy and he is us" (me and you).
Sigh. Our heyday was short. Those were the days! Nerds and nerd-wanna-bees were the elite of the world.
since 3/14/1998