FTP or File Transfer Protocol is a commonly
used protocol for exchanging files over any network that supports
the TCP/IP protocol (such as the Internet or an intranet). There
are two computers involved in an FTP transfer: a server and a
client. The FTP server, running FTP server software, listens on the
network for connection requests from other computers. The client
computer, running FTP client software, initiates a connection to
the server. Once connected, the client can do a number of file
manipulation operations such as uploading files to the server,
download files from the server, rename or delete files on the
server and so on. Any software company or individual programmer is
able to create FTP server or client software because the protocol
is an open standard. Virtually every computer platform supports the
FTP protocol. This allows any computer connected to a TCP/IP based
network to manipulate files on another computer on that network
regardless of which operating systems are involved (if the
computers permit FTP access). There are many existing FTP client
and server programs, and many of these are free.
for more info, pls refer to wiki
