apHarmony offers FTP integration programming services.  Whether you are looking to add FTP capability to an existing system, develop a new FTP app, or create an advanced FTP service, we will be happy to bring our team to your software project.  Please feel free to give us a call at 630-855-7522 for a free evaluation and quote.

The FTP protocol had been one of the drivers of early Internet adoption, enabling individuals and businesses to share files and larger data that was not convenient over existing protocols.  In many secure applications and automation or middle-ware systems, FTP still plays an important role in offering a shared protocol whereby disparate systems can share files or other content necessary for data transfer and communication.

There are three general types of FTP: standard FTP, FTP over TLS, and SFTP.  Standard FTP uses an insecure, public connection to transfer data.  Although it can be protected by a password, data transferred over standard FTP is visible at the network level, and should not be used for transfer of sensitive information.  A malicious user at a public Wifi could intercept communication and either steal the information or alter it during transfer.

FTP over TLS and SFTP are both secure alternatives that encrypt the data en-route to the destination, and can provide verification of the remote host.  FTP over TLS uses similar technology to that in secure web traffic, and can even use the same certificate as web traffic if the server is on the same IP address as the website.  SFTP, on the other hand, transfers data over the SSH protocol, which is a protocol for Linux / Unix server administration.  Although this protocol was initially built primarily for remoting into the Unix server console, it has been extended for file transfer and even graphics processing.  SFTP essentially tunnels data over an SSH connection, so although it is highly secure for transfer, it can take additional work to set up correctly to ensure that SFTP accounts do not have unintentional access to any additional system components.

For a free evaluation and quote on an FTP integration programming project, please call us at 630-855-7522.