Along with the FTP, Ali’s site also has a dedicated Zip to FTP page where you can automatically upload and decompress archives to target folders. This web based FTP interface is based around a piece of open source PHP code which you can add to your own web server if you have some experience. If you do not have or do not want to use these services to access your FTP server, using a third party web based FTP is an option. Most web hosting services supply web based FTP within the hosting control panel pages. The downside is it can pose a higher security risk because the login is via a third party website. Web based FTP acts as a middle man and files are transferred to and from your server through this service, not directly. Unlike standalone FTP clients, a client you use from a web page in your browser has the effect of connecting via HTTP port 80 (or 443 for HTTPS) which is very unlikely to be blocked as it would block access to all web pages. If you want to transfer files but can’t because access to the FTP port is blocked, a simple workaround is to use a web based FTP client. One issue with using FTP is it can be blocked on corporate and public networks because its connection port, port 21, is being blocked. There are more secure derivatives of FTP around, like FTPS and SSH, but the standard FTP is still the most common. While FTP is common, it’s not the most secure transfer method because passwords can be sent unencrypted and intercepted.

The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) has been around since the 1970’s and has long been one of the most common methods to transfer files to and from a server.

Upload file to ftp via browser