FTP Clients - Windows FTP Client Software - An FTP client supports downloading of files from computers called FTP servers on the Internet. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, the technology that allows FTP clients and servers to communicate over comptuer networks. An FTP client is typically a software program that provide a graphical user interface (GUI) to allow choosing and downloading groups of files from the Web. This index describes popular FTP client software for Windows.
- Cute FTP: Cute FTP provides a GUI client that functions much like Windows Explorer. Users drag and drop icons to specify files to be uploaded to or downloaded from servers. The Cute FTP client provides simple fields for entering usernames, passwords and host names (URLs or IP addresses). The Site Manager feature allows these settings to be made once then remembered for future FTP sessions. Functions like changing directories and creating new directories are easily reached from the Cute FTP main menus.
- WS_FTP: The WS_FTP client has been improved from the original "LE" version to better work with newer versions of Microsoft Windows. WS_FTP Home edition supports all of the basic FTP client file transfer features. WS Pro also includes some support for Secure Shell (SSH) and other client features that may appeal to advanced users.
- FTP Voyager: FTP Voyager is available in Standard and Secure versions. Both contain many advanced features. FTP Voyager Standard supports scheduled file transfers, on-the-fly compression, bandwidth and port range limits, and concurrent transfers. The Secure edition adds SSH and SSL capability. Not nearly as popular as competing FTP clients, FTP Voyager is still a good choice for "power users." This same vendor also sells the well-known Serv-U FTP server.
Internet Connection Sharing Software - Combining the functionality of a proxy server and a firewall, these products provide safer connection sharing for a home network. Similar capabilities are available in (more expensive) hardware routers, but these software solutions aren't tied to a particular type of Internet service. Compared to Microsoft Windows ICS, these products offer more features and may be more reliable and easier to use. See below for the list:
- Sygate® Home Network: Sygate offers all of the features typically found in this class of product. The popular package utilizes NAT and DHCP technology to provide server-based connection sharing with integrated packet filtering and activity logging. The product installs on the home's "server" computer. But unlike its competitors, Sygate does not require the server computer to have two network interface cards (NICs).
- Ositis WinProxy 4.0: WinProxy has added two interesting features in their latest release. In addition to the basic proxy server and firewall features, this product has added antivirus capability for emails passing through the proxy as well as the ability to send email alerts when unexpected network activity occurs. WinProxy also supports VPN clients. Ositis offers a free trial download for WinProxy.
- Kerio WinRoute Lite 4.1: WinRoute qualifies as a "high end" product in this space. The product transparently supports multimedia applications like ICQ. It also supports "plug and play" adapters, which allows easier swapping of network cards on the server. WinRoute's flexible, powerful firewall may be the easiest to configure for online gaming. Dese a slightly higher price tag, WinRoute is worth a close look.
Firmware - Router Firmware - In a home computer network, firmware is embedded software inside a router. Both wired routers and wireless routers contain firmware. The firmware implements a portion of the network protocols, security mechanisms and administrative capabilities of the hardware device.
Router manufacturers initially install firmware at the factory. However, this firmware is designed to be freely upgraded by homeowners later as enhancements become available. Updating a router's firmware can increase its performance, security and/or reliability depending on the nature of the enhancements provided. Firmware upgrades generally need to be done infrequently, however.
Firmware exists in read-only memory chips contained inside the router. Firmware does not get erased when a router is powered off nor can it be altered externally by hackers.
Homeowners normally only change their firmware when the manufacturer provides a new firmware version on their Web site.
However, router manufacturer Linksys also provides some of its router firmware software code free to programmers on the Internet, offering them the freedom to create their own enhancements. Some of these variations have become popular with technical enthusiasts. Homeowners are normally free to download and install these firmware variants on their routers.
VNC - Virtual Network Computing - VNC is a technology for remote desktop sharing. VNC enables the desktop display of one computer to be remotely viewed and controlled over a network connection. This technology is useful on home computers, allowing someone to access their desktops from another part of the house or while traveling. It is also useful for network administrators in business environments.
VNC was created as an open source research project in the late 1990s. Since that time, several mainstream remote desktop solutions have been created based on VNC. The original development team produces the RealVNC package (see sidebar). Other popular derivatives include UltraVNC and TightVNC.
VNC works similarly to the Remote Desktop appplication built into newer versions of Microsoft Windows. Unlike Windows Remote Desktop, VNC runs on older Windows computers, Linux/Unix and other non-Windows operating systems.
VNC applications, however, are generally regarded as slower and offering fewer features and security options than Windows Remote Desktop.
Ping - Ping is the name of a standard network utility packaged with popular network operating systems. The utility can be used to determine if a remote device (such as Web or game server) can be reached on the network and, if so, roughly how fast the current connection is.
Traditional pings are implemented with the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), although it is possible to achieve a similar effect with UDP or other protocols. Ping utilities send requests to the designated computer at periodic intervals and measure the time it takes for a respone packet to arrive. A number of popular "ping tools" that add features to the operating system commands are available on the Net today. By manipulating the contents of ICMP packets, hackers have also used ping utilties to take down servers in the so-called "Ping of Death" attack.
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