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SpaceManSpiff
Asked: 2009-06-04 05:44:05 +0800 CST

FTP Client that intergrates fully into the Windows Explorer

  • 772

I am looking for an FTP client that intergrates with the Windows explorer so that users will be able to just use it like a normal mapped drive.

My users need remote access to company files and VPN is just too slow, so wanted to try it with FTP and see if this works any better. Using the old style FTP client and uploadning/download is just not an option, too complex for them. Ideally I'd like to make this as close to the same as a mapped drive as I can.

Thanks

windows vpn ftp

5 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    What is wrong with using the FTP client included with windows explorer?

    Open Windows Explorer and type your ftp address in the address bar (e.g. ftp://ftp.foo.com).

    You will be prompted for credentials if the site doesn't allow anonymous access.

    If you want to include the username when accessing the FTP site use: username@ftp://ftp.foo.com

    Brett

    Windows Explorer FTP view

    • 12

  2. There are several good ways to map a drive letter in Windows to an FTP location.

    Unkwntech asked "How can I mount an FTP to a drive letter in windows?"

    It appears he has chosen WebDrive as his accepted answer.

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  3. Mind you VPN is suppose to do more than just transfer files, when properly used it also provides a more secure access to resources... standard ftp would be a big no-no - you'd still need to wrap it inside an encrypted tunnel of some kind - be it some VPN or another hybrid like sftp and so forth.

    This sounds more like a case for terminal services (Remote Desktop Services or/and Citrix) if you really want to speed things like this up a lot - by simply negating the need to transfer the files to begin with! ^^

    Or you could have users actually use offline folders to synchronise important folders - though it's so annoyingly buggy until Vista was released so if the users aren't running Vista I'm not sure it would be fun to administer.

    Sharepoint and HTTPS (or any SSL VPN) would likely be a better version of the ftp idea as well, though I don't really like Sharepoint...

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  4. While VPN is secure it offers something FTP doesn't. Security. FTP passes data in the clear. So if this data is in any way important or private FTP is not a good way to move it.

    You could try WebDAV which runs on in conjunction with IIS (like FTP) and would allow access remotely at internet speeds, and can use SSL encryption.

    • 0

  5. After having a look on Alternativeto.net to WebDrive I found

    Direct Net Drive http://www.directnet-drive.net/ , which is free for personal use.

    Simple installation and intuitive interface. Served my purpose of maping a local ftp server to a drive so that another program could access it as a local drive.

    Within my search I had also seen FtpUse which is Freeware and looks promising but I did not test it out yet as I managed to get the job done with Direct Net Drive.

    Cheers

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