FTP is an Internet standard protocol for transferring files. FTP service allows users with FTP client software to connect to the server to transfer files. It works across platforms (Mac OS, UNIX, and Windows) so it's often used in environments that use more then one operating system. With FTP, users can browse files on the server or transfer (upload and download) files between the server and the user's hard disk.

MacBinary and BinHex are common file formats used to transfer Mac OS files over a network. Files transferred using FTP should be encoded in one of these formats, so that Mac OS information (such as resource fork, file type, and creator code) is preserved during transfer. BinHex files are larger and take longer to transfer, but more platforms support BinHex encoding.

The AppleShare IP FTP server encodes files automatically. It appends the suffix ".bin" to transferred files (except text files) that contain a resource fork. FTP is turned on by default. Users can access only those items for which the appropriate privileges have been assigned.