What Is FTP?
"Real men don't use backups, they post their stuff on a public ftp server and let the rest of the world make copies." (Linus T.)M
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol
FTP is a set of rules that allow computers to exchange files across the Internet.
The most common use for FTP is to download files from the Internet. Because of this, FTP is the backbone of the MP3 music craze, and vital to most online auction and game enthusiasts. In addition, the ability to transfer files back and forth makes FTP essential for anyone creating a web pages whether they're an amateur or a professional web designer.
When downloading a file from the Internet you're actually transferring the file from a remote computer on the Internet to your computer - hence the name File Transfer Protocol.
An FTP address looks a lot like a normal web address except it uses the prefix ftp:// instead of http://.
For example:
Microsoft's web address is http://www.microsoft.com
Microsoft's FTP address is ftp://ftp.microsoft.com
A computer with an FTP address is usually dedicated to receive FTP connections and, in the same way that a computer that holds web pages is called a web server, so a computer dedicated to FTP is called an FTP server, or an FTP site.