FTP has more tricks up its sleeve than just active or passive connections. It is also possible to connect securely to an FTP site and also perform direct remote to remote server file transfers.
Secure FTP (also known as SFTP) is a more secure method of transferring and working with files. It encrypts all traffic to and from your web server so no one else can access your data, similar to SSL (https://) access of web pages in a browser, but for file transfers. SFTP is actually a combination of two different protocols, SSH (Secure Shell—see Chapter 10 for information on SSH) and standard FTP. In order to access your account via SFTP, you will need three things:
The main FTP account
SSH (regular or jailshell) access to your account
An FTP client that supports SFTP (most dedicated clients will)
Accessing your account via SFTP is simple if your FTP client supports it; you...