Steps to setting up free SFTP server

[Ob1]

i noticed several people this past week wanting to setup FTP servers to transfer file. I originally had one setup at my own house but shut it down due to an endless onslaught of hackers trying to get in. Since everything in FTP is sent in clear text it doesnt take much to get in. So me and friend decided to try and setup a Secure FTP (aka SFTP) which encrypts all data transfers and login to help reduce hackers catching the login info etc and to provide encrypted transmission over the wire. We found two programs that helped in facilitating SFTP rather painlessly.

the first program is SFTP- mini server. it is a very basic yet effective gui. you can download it here:
http://www.coreftp.com/server/
You can purchase a full licensed version for $50
Here's a screenshot of it:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a21.../SFTP-mini.jpg

after installing it and launching the program you create a user name and password (doesnt have to be a windows account on your pc)
and then specify the root path: you can use a local path ie: c:\Music or a UNC path on a remote machine ie: \\WS01\music.
Finially hit start and that launches the SFTP server.
One more thing is you have to open tcp port 22 on your router and also on your pc if it is running a firewall


use core ftp lite (free) to connect to your SFTP server. It can be downloaded here
http://www.coreftp.com/download.html
Here is a screenshot of the program
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a21...FTP-client.jpg

launch the program and a site manager window will open.
specify a name for this connection
enter in the username and password you specified for the SFTP server
change the port number to 22
uncheck PASV and check SSH/SFTP

try connecting if successful you will see all files and folders on the SFTP server displayed on the right side of core ftp client.

To transfer files just highlight a file and drag it over to either to the opposite side. the bottowm (progress window) will let you know the current status of the download or upload..

finally to allow your connection to stay active with the SFTP server you need to go to view>options>highlight connections>check the keep alive option. Now if your sitting idle while still connected to the SFTP server it wont disconnect you for inactivity.

As you can see not much to setting this up, yet still providing a more secure way of transfering documents and files over the wire.

[Kareeser]

My main beef with Filezilla is that people try to log into my server with the username "Administrator", and random passwords. This isn't necessarily a problem, as there isn't even a user called "Administrator", but I was wondering how SFTP would counter that problem, if it does...

My other beef is that Filezilla doesn't support autobanning after x number of logins... (Project admin deemed it unnecessary )

[Ob1]

with SFTP from coreftp you can specify any username and password you would like and it doesnt have to be a current windows account on your system. SFTP-mini only supports one username and password. the licensed version i believe supports as many users as you would like.

again the mini server SFTP is a very basic gui and the only options on it are username/password/root path/start & stop button.

In my original post i have an image of the SFTP mini server..

the full licensed version supports autobanning after X number of logins. it also supports user accounts in active directory, has file/folder permissions for each user. take a look at the documentation link here for the full licensed version
http://www.coreftp.com/server/help/contents.htm