In this video, we will talk about the differences between FTP and FTPS, and whether you should use FTP or FTPS.

FTP means file transfer protocol. It is widely used for transferring large amount of data over the Internet. FTPS means FTP over SSL or TLS. It is a secure form of FTP. Comparing FTP with FTPS is like comparing HTTP with HTTPS. All secure websites use HTTPS.

SSL means secure socket layer, which is a technology for secure data communication between two computers over the Internet. It uses digital certificate and data encryption to verify server identity and ensure data security. TLS means transport layer security. It is the successor to SSL, offering better security than SSL.

The differences between FTP and FTPS are:
(1) FTP has no data encryption, but FTPS has.
(2) FTP uses TCP port 21; FTPS uses Port 21 or 990.
(3) FTP does not verify the server's identity. It is possible to connect to a fake FTP server. FTPS uses a digital certificate to verify the server's identity.
(4) An FTP server does not need a digital certificate to support the plain FTP protocol; but it is required to support FTPS.

There are two FTPS Protocols: FTPS Explicit and FTPS Implicit.
FTPS Explicit uses the same FTP Port number 21. It will start secure communication after the FTP client sends the StartTLS command.
FTPS Implicit uses a different port number 990. It will start secure communication when the connection is established. The difference is very small. In some rare cases, if your firewall or ISP blocked the FTP port 21, you probably can use FTPS Implicit at Port 990.

So should you use FTP or FTPS? Obviously FTPS is better and you should use it whenever possible. It is ok to use FTP in some cases, for example:
(1) If you transfer data in a controlled environment, such as your local network, or over a VPN connection.
(2) If you transfer public files using anonymous FTP.
(3) If security and privacy is not an issue in your specific usage cases.

The FTP client and server must both support FTPS to use it. Fortunately, almost all GUI-based FTP clients support FTPS. Windows Command-line FTP client does not support FTPS. You can use DriveHQ's Command-line FTP client instead, which supports all FTP protocols.
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FTP-enabled software and devices such as content publishing software and scanners may or may not support FTPS.

Almost all FTP server software supports FTPS. However, FTPS server requires an SSL certificate. You need to buy an SSL certificate and install it on the server to enable it.

If you don't have your own FTP server, you can use a hosted FTP service such as DriveHQ's cloud FTP server. It supports all FTP protocols. You can use DriveHQ's FTP server name, or setup a co-branded FTP server name. You don't need to order an SSL certificate in these cases. For more information, please visit [ Ссылка ] and click FTP SFTP Hosting:
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