Transfers are lightning-fast, connections are quick, navigation is a breeze, and, most importantly, reliability is never an issue. Establishing connections to remote sites is simple and painless, and the program also supports connections via SSL. 

The two-pane interface shows remote and local file systems, making transferring items via drag and drop a snap. Profiles aid your return to previously visited locations, but be prepared to navigate a series of screens to set up bookmarked sites.

WS_FTP Home boasts a complete set of features, packed with options for firewalls, file handling, transfer modes, and logs. Overall, this program is a fine choice for basic FTP.

It is important for you to know that File Transfer (with all software / dos) is done via a port (typically 21). When you connect a software to your server for a file transfer, the port is open and kept open till you disconnect your software. This makes the server vulnerable to hackers and attacks as anyone (with enough knowledge) can transfer malicious scripts / code to your server while the port is open, which can then result in data theft, or delete your web site totally, or add ad-ware / spy-ware code to your existing web pages. Most of these attacks are very silent and you may not know about them.

WS FTP allows you to connect to your server using Secure Shell (also referred as SSH). SSH sends information, like passwords, etc in an encrypted format which otherwise is sent as plain text, and has room for interception. WS FTP makes your data secure and confidential over the network, specially the Internet.

Besides this very well thought of security system, WS FTP also offers various site management solutions which allows you to use this FTP Client to the fullest. Here are some of the features that I would like to highlight:

* Ability to work on several web sites at once
* Ability to open several local views (hard drive locations) for file management.
* Site Manager allows you to store site log-ins and information in a folder tree manner.
* Allows you to delete folders containing files (if you wish to).
* Backup. You can backup your files on any disk, hard drive location, etc. I need not tell you the importance of backing up your data.
* Advanced user interface, allowing you to drag and drop files from your local computer to your server.
* Inbuilt local search engine, lets you search your computer for files and folders.
* Ability to upload files in automatic mode, binary mode, etc
* Scheduler utility, you can schedule file uploads / downloads from your server. Very helpful to keep your web site updated on a fixed schedule.

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