It’s 2017, and it’s time to start making some serious changes around here. FTP, or the File Transfer Protocol, is one of the most popular transfer methods for sending files to ” and downloading from ” the cloud. Users like FTP is because it’s simple to use and efficient when you’re primarily working with local media servers.
But, the ease of FTP comes at a cost, and the security risks are simply not worth it.
According to a new report from Encoding.com, FTP and SFTP remain a popular transit protocol for getting files to the cloud, primarily due to its ease and prevalence on local media servers.
Yet FTP and SFTP ” governed by the TCP/IP protocol ” were never designed to handle large data transfers. Worse, they are just not as secure as what you could be using, especially if you’re a media company with proprietary content and materials.
One of the most egregious issues with FTP is that the servers can only handle usernames and passwords in plain text. FTPs’ inability to handle more than usernames and passwords is exactly why you’re advised not to use root accounts for FTP access. If someone were to discern your username and pass, they could wreak havoc. To retrieve password info from an FTP app like FileZilla is fairly simple, believe it or not.
You could make the argument that if someone has access to your local machine, they can get your password info anyway. But, the fact of the matter stands, it’s not as secure.
But not as secure as what? What other file transfer protocols can you use ” should you use?
The answer is UDP. It’s more secure, more reliable and data transfer via UDP is just faster.
Hello, that’s why it’s the preferred data transfer method for games. The fast, efficient transmission measures allow little to no lag or latency issues.
Embrace UDP Technologies
UDP stands for User Datagram Protocol, and while TCP and UDP aren’t the only transfer methods that exist, they are the most popular.
UDP technologies have experienced steady growth over the last few years ” and for good reason. They offer a boost in speed and security, and they are ideal for the download or transfer to cloud platforms.
The UDP protocol does have a lot in common with TCP. Both are used to send bits of data via the internet, often referred to as packets. They utilize the Internet protocol, which relies on packet transfer to a particular IP address.
Essentially, a large file or portion of data is broken down into packets and sent across the internet. When those packets arrive at the proper location, the data is reconstructed. Now that the data is back to its original state, the receiver can open and use this file like normal.
TCP uses a form of error correction methods to authenticate data that isn’t exactly necessary. UDP does away with those unnecessary methods, which is what allows it to be faster and more reliable. That speed and reliability are why UDP is the preferred transfer method for gaming, audio, video and peer-to-peer file sharing.
There are other differences, but they are fairly minor compared to what we’ve covered here. The big takeaway is that UDP is faster, more secure and often more reliable.
