Using FTP Server
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is one of the early protocols in the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite. It was created at a time when security was not as great a concern as it is now, and as a result, it has no built-in data protection of any kind. Clients transmit passwords in clear text, and transfer files to and from servers in unencrypted form.Windows Server 2008 R2, however, has an FTP server implementation that is enhanced with better security measures and other new features.
The FTP Publishing Service role service included in the Windows Server 2008 release is a holdover from Windows Server 2003. It requires you to install the old IIS 6.0 version of the management console because it is not compatible with the new IIS 7.0 architecture. Soon afterward, however, Microsoft released, as a free download, a new FTP Publishing Service that was compatible with IIS 7.0. Administrators could create and manage FTP sites using the current Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager console, and the service also included new features, such as the following:
– FTP over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Enables the FTP server to establish secure connections using password protection and SSL data encryption.
-Combined FTP and Web hosting Enables a single IIS site to support both HTTP and FTP connections.
–Virtual host naming Enables a single IIS server to host multiple FTP sites using a single IP address and port number, distinguishing between the sites by using host names, just as it can with Web sites.
–Improved logging and error handling IIS log files include additional fields for FTP connections, and IIS can generate detailed error messages for clients on the local network.
Now, in Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft has fully incorporated that FTP Publishing Service into IIS 7.5, as shown in the Figure, so there is no need for a special download and no need to install an outdated management console. They have also included an additional role service, FTP Extensibility, which enables developers to use their own managed code to create customized authentication, authorization, loging, and home directory providers.
