Internet 101: Moving Files, Archie and Anonymous FTP From FutureNet : .net 1, Dec '94 - Easy Internet Written by Davey Winder
If you spend any time at all using the Internet you'll soon find files you'll want to download, be they documentation, Shareware programs, product upgrades or whatever. The movement of files across the Net is handled by something called the File Transfer Protocol, or ftp for short. There are millions of files stored on the Internet, and all are kept at ftp sites. Of course, you can't just go and grab anything you want from any ftp. Many are only open to people who've got authorised access, usually by means of some sort of account, with the organisation that holds the files.
However, don't despair - a vast number of ftp sites offer a service called anonymous ftp which makes them open to anyone. You'll often find that a site offering anonymous ftp only has one public directory you can access, true enough, but it's usually a big one, and holds an enormous quantity of files on all sorts of topics.
One of the great things about ftp is that it doesn't make any difference what type of computer you use to connect to the Internet - it doesn't really care about that. What does make a difference is the type of connection you have. A dial-up connection, using one of the commercial on-line systems, will almost certainly have you downloading a file twice, first to the on-line system concerned, and then from there to your own computer. Although you may not realise it, because these systems try to make things as seamless as possible, it does take twice as long as transferring the file directly to your machine.
Archie (the name derives from the word 'archive') is a tool that searches for the wherabouts of files stored in anonymous ftp sites on the Net.To move a file in one hit, you need a dial-in (SLIP/PPP) or direct connection. You can also get files from anonymous ftp sites using e-mail, would you believe? What happens is you send a request for the file to be transferred to an ftp mail server, a special machine which only deals with ftp by e-mail. Unless you don't have any other choice, though, I'd recommend you avoid doing this. It's a bit like playing Sonic the Hedgehog while wearing boxing gloves - possible, but slow and not the easiest task in the world.
The biggest advantages to using ftp and the Internet to get your Shareware and upgrades are speed, cost, and choice. You don't have to wait for days to receive a program after you've ordered it - with ftp the file will be on your computer in a matter of minutes (sometimes even seconds). Product upgrades, too, are only a telephone call away, and it's all pretty cost effective as well. It's nowhere near as hard to find everything you want as you might think, either. Yes, useful files are kept in thousands of different places on the Internet, but a wonderful application called Archie can help you find them with relative ease.
And what is Archie? Well, the name derives from the word `archive' (clever, eh?) - it's a tool that searches for the whereabouts of files stored in any of the anonymous ftp sites on the Internet. You tell Archie the name, or part of the name, of the file you're looking for and Archie goes away and searches its databases for matches. You then get a listing of anonymous ftp sites with files that seem to match your description. You can now take a look at them and grab the files you want. Simple, eh?
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