ASL STEM

Definition

Acronym for File Transfer Protocol. An Internet standard for the exchange of files. FTP (uppercase) is a specific set of rules that comprise a file transfer protocol (ftp, note the lowercase letters).To use FTP, one starts an FTP client, an application program that enables one to contact another computer on the Internet and exchange files with it. To gain access to the other computer, one normally must supply a login name and password, after which he or she is given access to the computer’s file directory system, and he or she can send (upload) and receive (download) files. An exception is anonymous FTP, which makes a file archive publicly accessible to any Internet user who possesses an FTP client; in response to the authentication prompts, one enters “anonymous” rather than a login name and, as a courtesy, supplies his or her e-mail address as a password. Most Web browsers can function as FTP clients to download files from anonymous FTP file archives.

Source: Pfaffenberger, Bryan. Webster's new world computer dictionary. London: Wiley, 2003. Print.