BIOS: Technology Means Business

WS_FTP Professional 2006 is probably the most secure way to transfer files. This mature FTP client lets you easily and securely transfer files between your home and office, and to and from customers, clients, or vendors. Its features include security (SSL, SSH, and PGP) and advanced file management - everything you would expect from an FTP client - and increased security and transfer options now provide up to 256-bit encryption and support for HTTP and HTTPS transfers. Along with OpenPGP public key/private key encryption, extensive protocol support, e-mail notifications and a new compression utility, the app defines standards-based secure data management.

Pros: Increased security and transfer options; new compression mode
Cons: Runs on Windows only; no data transfer graphs/visualisations

WS_FTP Professional is Ipswich's flagship Windows-based FTP client. The updated software, aka WS_FTP Professional 10, is not a major release, but does offer additional security and protocol support as well as the ability to securely manage any kind of digital files. The software also enables application developers to create secure, data-movement-aware applications such as data collection applications and integrate them into workflow processes.

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. Indeed, Ipswitch even has documentation on its Web site about how to use the software to upload images to eBay servers. 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.

Designed primarily for business users, WS_FTP Professional 2006 sports the same intuitive interface as WS_FTP Professional 9.0, but improves security and collaboration features. In particular, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) ciphers now use 256-bits in concert with OpenPGP and SSL over FTP transfers, and new e-mail notification allows you to initiate simple workflows and share the knowledge about data movement with others in your organisation.

The software retains its resizable two-pane format for performing file transfer operations. The interface looks and acts just like Windows XP and is uncluttered and easy to use. WS_FTP Professional 9.0 users will be pleased to know that the menu bar, tool bar, connection bar, connection pane and information window have all remained in place so there's no need to worry about having to spend time trying to find out where all the features have moved to. Ipswitch has also retained the tabbed interface, a neat feature that allows you to flip between the Transfer Manager, Transfer History and Connection Log manager windows.

Using WS_FTP Professional 2006 is a breeze. The program's interface consists of two main windows where you can drag-and-drop 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 2006 allows you to view your collection of files, folders and servers in a number of views, such as by date, type or thumbnails.

The addition of workspaces allow you to set up, use and retrieve views that comprise specific directories on multiple servers as well as locally (complex folder and file structures can be hidden from the user), and a compression mode lets you automatically convert files to ZIP archives before uploading. You also have a choice of compression level and the ability to preserve path names in the archive file and to password-protect the ZIP files.

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 2006 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.

The Transfer History tab allows you to 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 2006'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.

Other key utilities include an Upload Wizard that provides a simple interface for uploading files. It can be invoked via integration with Windows Explorer - just right click on files or folders and select upload using the Upload Wizard. You can also launch the Upload Wizard as a stand-alone application via the shortcut provided in the WS_FTP Professional program group. The Find Utility allows searching an FTP site for files, which is useful when searching for files on a large, complex site.

The Script Utility automates the transfer and management of files through FTP commands such as open, get, and put. For example, you can create a script that instructs WS_FTP Professional 2006 to upload certain files, and then use a scheduling program to run the script at the same time each day or week. Script lines that start with ';' are comments and are ignored by the command processor. Finally, Browser Integration allows you to use WS_FTP Professional 2006 to download files from a Web browser. With this feature, if you select a download file in your Web browser (provided the download file has an FTP URL), the download will be processed by WS_FTP Professional 2006.

WS_FTP Professional 2006 builds on its predecessor by using 256-bit AES encryption for SSL and PGP, the PGP Export wizard now allows exporting a key pair, there's support for TLS session caching, and SSL configuration now allows selection of acceptable ciphers. In addition, there's UPnP support for Windows XP, quick connect options for disabling password saving, and clearing connection history, AUTH TLS support, and support for transfers over HTTP and HTTPS.

Ipswitch hasn't focussed entirely on security, though. Workspaces now allow saving of frequently used local and remote connection configurations, folder linking provides synchronised folder navigation between two folder views, Auto Retry for failed transfers has been improved to allow a retry delay, file size display options allow size to by displayed in bytes, KB, MB, or Auto, connection status is now displayed in the status bar, and the Site Import wizard now supports CuteFTP, FTP Voyager, and WS_FTP LE.

The auto-detection of time differences allows more accurate views of local and remote timestamps, thumbnail creation provides the ability to create thumbnails for your images before uploading, compression mode allows files to be automatically compressed before upload and decompressed when downloaded, the single pane view displays all connection tabs in a single pane allowing more information to be displayed for the active connection, and the transfer shortcut feature allows for frequent transfers to be saved as Windows shortcuts to provide one-click transfers.

The Transfer Manager window has been improved to display textual errors, you now have the ability to change the look and feel of the software by using skins based on WindowBlinds technology, and tab customisation provides the ability to change the tab colour, name, and other site options. Lastly, e-mail notifications can be configured when files are transferred.

Overall, WS_FTP Professional 2006 is a solid upgrade, focussing specifically on the needs of business users. If you're not using an FTP application to transfer files securely, you really should be. And if you need a program to do it, you really can't go wrong with WS_FTP Professional 2006.