Lecture 1B: FTP, Telnet, and Data Hygiene IT 202—Internet Applications Based on notes developed by Morgan Benton

For Today Web Development Basics: FTP Telnet Data Hygiene

What is FTP? FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol It is a method for moving files from one computer to another across a network It was originally proposed in 1971, two years after the creation of ARPANET Basic protocol finalized in 1985 More info at

A Visualization of FTP Your Computer Your ISP’s Web Server Other Computers Connected to the Internet

Primary Uses Back up files from one system to another Uploading files that will form a website to a web server

Terminology Local machine—the machine that you are using Remote machine—the machine from/to which you want to move files Open—open a connection with the remote host Get—move a file from the remote server to the local machine Put—move a file from your local machine to the remote machine Mget—get multiple files at one time Mput—put multiple files at one time Help—display help messages

Different Methods for FTP Windows command line program Through a web browser Using a GUI FTP client (e.g. WS_FTP) Not strictly FTP, but another way to move files is to map a network drive to your computer

What is Telnet? “The purpose of the Telnet protocol is to provide a fairly general, bi-directional, eight-bit byte oriented communications facility. Its primary goal is to allow a standard method of interfacing terminal devices and terminal-oriented processes to each other. It is envisioned that the protocol may also be used for terminal-terminal communication ("linking") and process-process communication (distributed computation).” (Postel, RFC764, June 1980, Telnet allows you to use a remote computer as if you were sitting in front of it.

Primary Uses of Telnet Generally Telnet is used to access and organize resources on a remote machine other than just getting and putting files. This may include running remote programs, and otherwise manipulating directory structures and access privileges.

Terminology c - close close current connection o - open hostname [port] connect to hostname q - quit exit telnet anonymous login PLUS, you must know how to get around on the remote operating system—frequently UNIX based For basic UNIX commands see For a thorough in UNIX course take CIS 333

Different Methods for Telnet Windows command line program Terminal Emulator, e.g. hyperterm, qvterm Larger program such as XWindows

What is data hygiene? Data—you should know what data is. In this case I specifically refer to any data for which YOU are primarily responsible whether at work, school, or home Hygiene—(according to Merriam-Webster) 1. a science of the establishment and maintenance of health 2. conditions or practices (as of cleanliness) conducive to health Data-Hygiene—conditions or practices (as of cleanliness) conducive to the health of your data

Good Data Hygiene Specifically I want to show you how easy it is to maintain two practices: Maintain up to date virus information on all of your computers and scan daily Have a backup location for all of your important information that is NOT on your hard drive—i.e. use an external storage device like CD-ROM or zip drive, or use another computer such as a second PC or your AFS account

Reasons to maintain good hygiene Computers are unreliable. Almost all systems crash at one point or another. Recovering a system, even if you have backed up your data can take a day of productivity away from you. Clients may understand that your computer crash was beyond your control, but they will not forgive you for losing work/data that belongs to them, especially if you inconvenience them because of it. If you get into these good habits now they will serve you well your entire life.

Virus Scan at NJIT All members of the NJIT community can download McAfee Virus Scan from If you don’t have any other virus software, do this TODAY. Norton Anti-Virus is the other major commercial product. I recommend you get one of these products ASAP.

Methods for data backup In the past I have used WS_FTP Pro (not the free LE version available at NJIT) which is about $35 for the academic license Windows has built in capability to backup your system on a schedule.

Summary FTP and Telnet are the most basic skills you need to start building Internet applications There are some practices based on them (i.e. data backup) that are crucial to maintaining good data hygiene

Homework Get an AFS account if you don’t already have one. If you don’t know how to create an AFS account at NJIT, then figuring out how is part of the assignment. Practice FTP and Telnet. Also you should establish a data hygiene routine if you don’t already have a good one.