Web Guide  > webguide > 6. Construction > 6.1 Management of files/naming > 6.1a How to use the FTP server

6.1a How to use the FTP server

Procedure

FTP had been used in the past for distribution of large binary files to help avoid  tying up resources on our main HTTP servers. There was a risk that this could happen for transfers lasting a long time - and so prejudicing the quality of the service offered.  Nowadays, the HTTP servers are more powerful and due to the increase in bandwidths available to many users, even for large downloads, this is no longer an issue. Therefore much of the incentive for using FTP has been removed. In addition to this, particular problems have been identified which can sometimes hinder publishing of information by FTP instead of HTTP. These include:

  • FTP can sometimes be blocked by a faulty firewall or proxy configuration, either on the end users computer, or at the ISP
  • There is no possibility of an HTTP redirect (301 Redirect or similar) with FTP, therefore moving documents to different URLs can be problematic
  • There is no referrer information collected by the FTP protocol. Therefore its not possible to use web traffic analysis to see how people found your document, either with a search engine (and what terms they might have used), or from an inbound link from another site.
  • There is no 'User Agent' information collected by the protocol used by FTP. The  'User Agent' information provides a good indication of whether the document is being accessed by a user with a browser, or by a search engine to build its indexes.
  • There is some evidence that FTP is not so well represented in Search Engine Results Pages in some search engines.

Remember

  • FTP servers can be used to transfer large files to targeted individuals. These files are usually of excessive size (so can not be emailed). If necessary, discuss with OCP;

How to request access to FTP server

The person authorized by the Division for requesting updates for a Web site can also be granted access to a folder on the FTP server. This person (or the Divisional Web focal point) should send an e-mail to Web-Intranet-Updates@fao.org requesting access to the FTP server, specifying the names of authorized users requesting access.

A reply will be sent as soon as access is granted, indicating where the folder is located and how to access it.