FTP help for a Noob

Hi all,
I'm a newbie here so bear with me.
I'm interested in setting up an FTP server on one of my rigs. What would I need to do this? I also would like to know if it's possible to have my own web site on the FTP server.

Thanks in advance

Yes, you can have both an FTP and Web server on the same machine, it's kind of confusing at first since both the programs and the machine can be called a server.

What OS do you plan on running on this rig?

If it's Windows based then, I can't help much, others on this forum have experience with that.

If it's Unix based such as Linux, then any major distribution, ie. Mandrake, SuSE, Red Hat, Slackware, etc. will have the programs required to setup and FTP (such as ProFTP) and Web (Apache, is the defacto standard web server) servers. Setting up the FTP and/or Web server is a easy as reading the corresponding documentation.

For a windows-based ftp-server all you need is the server software. There are lost of them. Just google "ftp server" or something like that. Just remebered two of them: Bulletproof Ftp and wsftp. I think there was a free version of wsftp.
(You need a networkcard too)

For FTP remember you will want a good upload speed since thats used for when people are connected and browsing filders/DLing files.

What type of connection will you be hosting on?

I plan on using a DSL connection on a windows XP machine. If I can get the software to work on a 95 machine, I will install it on that machine.

Thanks for the help

BulletProof FTP Server isnt a bad one to use.

i_am_tux said:

BulletProof FTP Server isnt a bad one to use.

Click to expand...

I use that one I think.

If you're using Windows all you need is a FTP server software. Make sure you have a decent upload speed and that there's no upload limit on your ISP. Most ISP don't care as much on downloading but will get on your butt if you use too much upload.

Don't use 95..... a FTP server needs to be stable, 95 just won't cut it.

Just one more question, how do I use it?

The sad thing about that was I'm serious. LOL. I need all the help I can get.

Thanks for bringing this topic up as i am currently in the process of doing the same thing. Looks like BPFTP Server offers eduational discounts, ie for students. I will look into this as i am in college right now.

Guildftp is free, and stable.

Our you guys runnng firewalls or have routers ? Because you will need to forward port 21 (Or the port you choose to use) to the machine running as the FTP server. Some ISP's block port 21.

As with running any form of server from a home connection make sure that you are not breaking any agreements you have with your isp (EUSA).

I use Cerberus FTP Server and it is awesome. Their help files/documentation is good, too, and easy to understand.

Additionally, the program is fully-featured and free for personal use (kind of like SmartFTP, except it's a server instead of a client).

Within my university's network I've gotten multiple simultaneous transfers of 4Mbps each, thus convincing me that they don't throttle the speeds for this program, and it does not have trouble reaching reasonable speeds.

For the first time ever I saw network utilization go past 50% while using this program. It was glorious.

RED Hot Machine said:

Guildftp is free, and stable.

Our you guys runnng firewalls or have routers ? Because you will need to forward port 21 (Or the port you choose to use) to the machine running as the FTP server. Some ISP's block port 21.

As with running any form of server from a home connection make sure that you are not breaking any agreements you have with your isp (EUSA).

Click to expand...

Is there any guides on the net on setting up guideftp? I had it before and I rebuilt my web/ftp server and I can seem to get GuideFTP working correctly.. I got apache going with Su Root's help tho.

RED Hot Machine said:

Guildftp is free, and stable.

Our you guys runnng firewalls or have routers ? Because you will need to forward port 21 (Or the port you choose to use) to the machine running as the FTP server. Some ISP's block port 21.

As with running any form of server from a home connection make sure that you are not breaking any agreements you have with your isp (EUSA).

Click to expand...

Yeah the network is behind a firewall, however i placed the ip of the box in the dmz. Ran a test with Celeron_Phreak and he could not connect, so i assume i need to do some nat work on my Cisco.

And i use MSN by Qwest, and as far as i know they have no problem. I use the 640/256 which i think is considered SOHO so it should be all good in da hood.

Please ignore the spelling or other errors in this post. I am stoned on pain killers (tore my MCL in my knee) and up way past my bed time.

Ok here is the quickies on this. Finnally a subject that I can help on.

Go to your computer you plan on running the server on. I am assuming that it is windows. Do a start / run and type in cmd or command or whatever your OS needs to get into DOS. run ipconfig or winipcfg find out what its IP is. You need the internal IP

Next open up the router and get that damn computer out of the DMZ. Putting a server in a DMZ is like running a car without bumpers, sure it will start up and run, but you are just asking for trouble.

Go into your router config and set that IP you got from the machine to have port 21 and 80 open. It is slightly diffrent terms in router brands, but in my SMC and my Netgear I just open them up public and private.


Ok now server software. Web I use Apache granted it is a bit of a pain to set up, but it is the web server benchmark. Apache is kinda like a 6 foot tall blonde Model. She can be tricky to train, but once she gets going she will go all night.

Bullet Proof FTP. Is not not bad at all I tried it and liked it. But a friend gave me a copy of Serv-U and I fired it up and have not gone back. Serv-U is not free, but it is very straight forward has tons of options you can set up single user accounts or group accounts. You can also set upload download limits. You can throttle people so it does not kill your net speeds.


As for an operating system. I would personally recomend Windows XP Pro. Install all the Service Packs and run an antivirus like AVG. I have AVG set to run 24/7 with FULL scan every 24hrs and auto update every 48hrs.

P.S. when you get it all running drop me a PM with your server.