NETWORK WORLD STEVE ULFELDER'S SOHO LIFE 11/03/04 Today's focus: New life for an old technology?
Dear [EMAIL PROTECTED], In this issue: * Ipswitch adds a friendly front end to venerable FTP * Links related to SOHO Life * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by Cloudmark Cloudmark Exchange Edition Stops Spam! Stop 98% Of Spam With Cloudmark Exchange Edition This maintenance-free, server-side anti-spam solution for small and medium businesses leverages the power of the 1-million-strong SpamNet(TM) community to provide 98% accuracy rates. It�s easy to install and starts working immediately with no configuration. Click here for a FREE 15-day trial! http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=86187 _______________________________________________________________ NW TECHNOLOGY INSIDER: STORAGE ILM With real benefits in terms of saving money and making business run more smoothly, information lifecycle management deserves a closer look. In this in-depth technology review, we profile users who are on the cutting edge of ILM and describe how ILM can be one of the building blocks of the new data center. Click here: http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=86089 _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: New life for an old technology? By Steve Ulfelder Upon subscribing to Usenet groups in 1989, I noticed some users wrote casually of "FTPing" files to each other. Curious, I badgered co-workers to show me how to use this mysterious File Transfer Protocol. But that required either a greater mastery of Unix, or more helpful co-workers. The emergence of Windows and the Web made me forget all about FTP until recently, when I checked out a product from Ipswitch aimed at consumers and small businesses that move around a lot of large files. Ipswitch claims a massive installed base of more than 40 million. The company recently figured out that its WS_FTP Professional was a bit too heavy-duty for non-technical folks into digital photography, MP3 file-swapping and Web publishing. So Ipswitch came up with WS_FTP Home, an FTP utility that's less expensive and easier to use. With support and upgrades, a 1-year license costs $60; a barebones license without support costs $35. I took Ipswitch up on a 30-day free trial of WS_FTP Home and was impressed. The download and installation went smoothly. I appreciated the Getting Started movie, which taught me everything I needed to know in 10 minutes. One key bit of info: FTP is for servers, not clients. To use WS_FTP Home or other FTP utilities, you need access to an FTP server. Nearly all Internet providers offer this access as part of their Web hosting services. Think of the Ipswitch application as a bridge between your client (PC) and an FTP server, which lets you upload files to your personal Web space. To test the product, I sent a dozen large digital pictures to a friend's Web server. No sweat. The chore took maybe 3 minutes; it would have required at least five times that had I relied on e-mail. When do you need FTP? Here's my rule of thumb: If your home computer has a broadband connection, you e-mail lots of big files back and forth with associates, and at least once a day you become frustrated by the time it takes, you're a candidate. Graphic and Web designers, as well as folks who rely on PowerPoint or Postscript files, would find FTP useful. Even if FTP is for you, why go with Ipswitch? There are a zillion freeware and shareware FTP applications, many with user interfaces similar to that in WS_FTP Home. Moreover, Windows features an FTP command-line utility that can perform any function Ipswitch (or any other FTP product) can. But command-line utilities are for people with a lot of know-how. And therein lies the major appeal of Ipswitch: WS_FTP Home is for consumers and home-based business owners who transfer enough large files to make e-mail inconvenient, and who want the ease of use and secure feeling offered by an established software vendor. That's why I say that if you're going to buy WS_FTP Home, pay the extra $25 for support. If it's bare-bones you want, go with a free download. RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS Ipswitch WS_FTP Home http://www.ipswitch.com/Products/WS_FTP/home/index.html _______________________________________________________________ To contact: Steve Ulfelder A journalist since 1986, Ulfelder writes about technology, business and automobiles from his home office in Southborough, Mass. His work appears in Network World, Computerworld, CIO, The Boston Globe, Grassroots Motorsports and others. You can contact him at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by NetScout The deployment of VoIP is well underway and unstoppable, but the implementation and ongoing support is extremely challenging. To successfully support VoIP and other demanding applications, IT organizations need to change their approach to network management. 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