Businesses shouldn't rely on e-mail to provide the structured, operational transfer of important business information. With WS_FTP Professional 9.0, both business users and consumers can easily and securely transfer data and documents in real time. Sporting a redesigned tabbed interface, improved security and integrated public key-based Open PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) to restrict file sharing and viewing, WS_FTP Professional 9.0 is now a complete FTP application. There are many shareware FTP programs, but none have WS_FTP Professional 9.0's range of customisation and security features that allow you to share and manage data between multiple remote, local and home folders simultaneously.

Pros: Excellent security features; schedule and synchronisation tools
Cons: Windows only; no data transfer graphs/visualisations


Anyone who frequently transfers files to and from a Web server, or shares large files between remote facilities, will appreciate the importance of an FTP application. Short for File Transfer Protocol, FTP works in the same way as HTTP for transferring Web pages from a server to your browser and SMTP for transferring electronic mail across the Internet in that, like these technologies, FTP uses the Internet's TCP/IP protocols to enable data transfer. However, FTP is most commonly used to download a file from a server using the Internet or to upload a file to a server, such as uploading a Web page file to a server.

FTP utilities are not designed exclusively for businesses though - they make it a lot easier, quicker and safer to share digital images and video, transfer music files and publish personal Web sites compared to e-mail, peer-to-peer applications and instant messaging services. FTP technology is a more reliable and convenient file transfer option than e-mail, which is vulnerable to viruses, mailbox size limits and frequently breaks down during bulky data transfers - especially with dial-up connections.

Ipswitch has been in the FTP game for a long time and its flagship program, WS_FTP Professional, is a widely used and reliable application. Designed primarily for business users, the updated software features a completely redesigned interface, increased security features and new customisation options, which help to make it a more intuitive and practical solution. In particular, new security features - based on Open PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) standards - enable you to encrypt individual files and have better control over how files are shared and viewed. For instance, you can now create multiple bit level encryption.

The software's two-pane format for performing file transfer operations has been expanded and now allows you to arrange the panes as you wish. The whole interface has been given a Windows XP look and feel too, which may or may not suit traditionalists. The new user interface is cleaner and easy to use, and the menu bar, tool bar, connection bar, connection pane and information window have all been updated for more intuitive functionality. Ipswitch has also introduced a tabbed interface that allows you to flip between the Transfer Manager, Transfer History and Connection Log manager windows.

Using WS_FTP Professional is a breeze. The program's interface consists of two main windows where you can drag-and-files to and from your computer or a remote location - as long as your computer is connected to the Internet, of course. Similar to most other Windows applications, WS_FTP Professional allows you to view your collection of files, folders and servers in a number of views, such as by date, type or thumbnails.

The Transfer Manager makes it easy to monitor the progress of your file transfers, as well as schedule the transfer of multiple files within different directories and on different FTP sites. From the Transfer Manager window you can also pause a file transfer and resume it at a later point. Other information provided in this window include the path and name of the file or folder that is being transferred, a progress bar showing percentage of completion, the size of the transfer in bytes, transfer rate (KB/s), actual file size (in bytes), as well as the estimated time left until the transfer is complete.

One of the greatest benefits of WS_FTP Professional compared to the many shareware FTP applications available is that you can transfer files from different directories and FTP sites within the same batch. Once you've selected Batch Mode from the tools menu, you can then select which files to add to your 'batch'. These files are then added to the Transfer Manager as a 'paused' transfer, which you can add to or delete as necessary.

Next to the Transfer Manager tab is the Transfer History tab. From here you can view a list of all your successful transfers. There's also a number of other useful information titbits, such as what type of transfer was performed (such as upload, download, or site to site transfers), date and time the transfer was completed, the site that was used to connect to the source, the path on the source directory from the root to the transferred item, the name of the source file that was transferred, the site and folder that was used to connect to the destination, the path on the destination directory from the root to where the transferred item was placed, the name of the file after it has been transferred, as well as the size of the transferred file in bytes.

WS_FTP Professional's Scheduler utility allows you to set a date and time to run transfers. This is a neat feature if you need to manage reoccurring transfers, such a backing up a Web site or database. The utility is actually a front-end interface to Microsoft's Scheduler and shows all queued FTP tasks and their status. The tasks are listed from top to bottom in the order in which they were added to the list. For each task, the Scheduler window shows the following information: Task name (file name), next run time (date and time the task is scheduled to be run), and last status (the status of the task). Similar to when you first scheduled a transfer, you have the ability to modify the frequency and start time of any transfers. Clicking the Advanced button also provides you with more precise frequency settings, along with more detailed start and stop times.

Extending the Scheduler feature, WS_FTP Professional's Synchronise Utility allows you to synchronise (or mirror) two different local or remote directories - an invaluable tool for updating live Web sites from an authoring site or mirroring FTP servers. You can schedule a synchronisation job to occur automatically by using the Scheduler utility.

WS_FTP Professional 9.0's new security features, based on Open PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) standards, enable you to encrypt individual files and have greater control over how files are shared and viewed. For instance, you can create multiple bit level encryption. PGP is used to encrypt files so that only their intended recipient can receive and open them. PGP is used widely to secure e-mail communications, but its technology has also been applied here to FTP.

PGP uses a key pair to encrypt and decrypt files. Using WS_FTP or any other PGP-enabled application, anyone can generate a personal key pair, which includes a Public Key and a Private Key. The Public Key is distributed to anyone you want to be able to encrypt files so that only you can decrypt them, while the Private Key is used to unlock files that have been encrypted using your Public Key. Similar to a password, a Private Key should not be shared, otherwise its use becomes pointless. If you don't already have a personal PGP key pair, WS_FTP can help you generate one using a built-in PGP key generation wizard.

For additional security, WS_FTP Professional 9.0 uses two types of the SSL protocol: Explicit SSL and Implicit SSL. The encryption strength and stability is virtually the same. The only difference lies in the way the client communicates with an FTP server during connection negotiations, and the port that the server is 'listening' on. With Explicit SSL the client starts the connection with a connection 'in the clear' and then attempts to secure the connection before sending the username and password, whereas with Implicit SSL the client sends all negotiations to the server in a secure manner. Implicit SSL connections use port 990, so any attempt at connecting to a server that is not configured for Implicit SSL will fail.

The software also utilises SSH2 with the SFTP protocol to help make SSH transfers. SSH (Secure Shell) is a security application that allows you to make a secure connection to a server that has the SSH protocol installed. Whereas FTP servers usually 'listen' on port 21 for connection, SSH servers use port 22. However, while SSH can be used with a variety of authentication methods, WS_FTP Professional only supports simple password authentication and public key authentication.

Links:
WS_FTP Professional 9.0 Web site
WS_FTP Professional 9.0 30-day trial (4.3MB)

BIOS, 23.07.04