FTP vs HTTP

[ghost2003]

Some site let you download using FTP or HTTP, is there any real difference? Would FTP be faster because it is made only for file transfer?

[doctorgonzo]

It depends on the file. HTTP works well for small files like web pages. For huge files, FTP makes more sense because it has more options for transferring files.

As to whether one is faster than the other, it's hard to say. FTP connections take longer to set up because they are more complicated, which is why HTTP is better for small files.

[kram 2.0]

Originally posted by ghost2003 Some site let you download using FTP or HTTP, is there any real difference? Would FTP be faster because it is made only for file transfer?

When the option is available, I always use FTP - boot up my handy WS_FTP program to do the work for me. Remember that FTP is specific - "File" transfer protocol, while HTTP is "Hyper Text" Transfer Protocol.

kram

[Statica]

While the original HTTP protocols were just designed primarily for ASCII and "hypertext" the newer protocols are no slouches for transferring binary. So it isnt an issue about protocols. There are a variety of reasons, though, why FTP is preferred for File Transfers. Remember that FTP is a two-way transfer method; meaning you can up and dowload. Modern HTTP, scripting and web browser based languages might be able to accomplish uploading (for example, sending an attachment through a webmail), but it is either insecure or just inconvenient from the server standpoint to open up write permissions on directories.
Now talking about speed; it's a subject you must think of from a variety of angles. Say you have one person (you) downloading HTTP is efficient if it is a single small file; mostly because FTP's authentication procedure are longer. Now consider file transfers for a large number of files, FTP is usually faster; finally for something like a one large file, even though FTP is a bit slower, it is usually more reliable. Browsers that resume downloads from HTTP servers usually work like download managers, being able to append parts to broken downloads. However the method is not accurate, and you may frequently be faced with unusable files. Now consider from a server standpoint, if you want to offer files for download; http is usually faster, and it allows for a greater spread of connections downloading your file. Again, though, FTP is a far more superior implementation for downloads - again, allowing you to limit the number of connections at a given time, or control who gets what.
IMO if you want to compare apples to apples, compare downloading by FTP to downloading from an HTTPS server, now with the authentication procedures etc, you'd find that FTP is far superior.
Also, if you want to truly consider the speed of FTP, IGNORE MS IE as an FTP browser, there are too many overheads (first the authentication, then the insistance of IE to turn into Windows Explorer rather than remain as a browser), try using an FTP program; or even something like Mozilla/Firefox .. you'll see how much faster an FTP server responds.

[ghost2003]

I ignore IE as a web browser. Im already using firefox. What more do FTP programs give? Ive heard of them but never used one.

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

I have used both Firefox (or Waterbunny as its calling itself), IE, and Wise FTP for FTP, and Firefox is my favourite. IE I don't use anyway, and takes the longest. There are advantages of using a seperate program, but this can take a while to load up. By far the easiest I think is using Firefox. As for FTP vs HTTP, FTP can download/upload a wide number of files consectivily i.e. file 1, then file 2 etc. But with HTTP it downloads all the files at once, which for me, can be annoying.

[Xayd]

Originally posted by ghost2003 I ignore IE as a web browser. Im already using firefox. What more do FTP programs give? Ive heard of them but never used one.

Main things for the user would be uploads, changing of permissions if you own the remote file, editing remote files, and downloading entire directories and subdirectories. FTP also respects permissions on files just like you were at the server logged in as a user. You can allow read but not write, read+write, write only if authenticated, etc. There is no mechanism for uploading in http.