SWCP Customer-managed FTP Options
There are several options for people who would like to use FTP to share files with people on other sytstems. Each has different costs and capabilities and suits a different situation. Here they are:
1. Using /pub/tmp
The directory /pub/tmp on our Anonymous FTP server is available for free use by our customers and the general public. Any files deposited in /pub/tmp are automatically deleted after they become 48 hours old.
- Pros: It’s free.
- Cons: Limited file lifetime, completely public (anyone can retrieve the files you put there).
2. Customer-managed Anonymous FTP Area
We create a directory for you under /pub in our FTP area on ftp.swcp.com. By default it would be something like /pub/users/username, but we’re flexible if you want some other name.
You tell us roughly how much space you need, and we set your disk quota for your FTP directory accordingly. Disk space quota costs the same as for web hosting, listed here. This space is counted separately from the 20MB of storage which comes with your account (because it resides on a separate disk on a separate server).
We configure the directory with you as the owner. You can FTP to ftp.swcp.com using your regular SWCP login name (NOT as anonymous), go to the directory /usr/local/pub/users/username, and you will be allowed to add and remove files from the directory. When you do an anonymous FTP to ftp.swcp.com, you can access the same directory as /pub/users/username, but you won’t be able to add or delete any files, only retrieve them.
We can set up an “incoming” directory which will allow people to upload files, but they won’t be able to see what files are already there. This way you can review any files that are uploaded before making them available to other people. The incoming directory is pseudo-secure: if a person knows the name of a file in that directory, they may retrieve, overwrite, or delete the file. However, they can NOT get a list of the directory contents, so the liklihood of someone guessing what files are there is pretty low.
- Pros: Files live as long as you like, private uploads, only cost is disk space.
- Cons: Your files are available to the whole world (you have to encrypt them to keep them private).
3. Customer-Managed Private FTP Area
We create a secondary account for you which is set up with a private FTP area. When you or your associates log FTP to ftp.swcp.com and log in as this user, you will be put into a private directory accessible only to people who have the password for that account.
There is a $10 setup fee for this type of account, plus a $5 monthly fee. The disk space is billed at the same rate as above, listed here. In this case, the 20MB of space which comes with a secondary account is available for use in the private FTP area (less the overhead of the FTP area itself, about 1MB).
- Pros: Complete control over access to files.
- Cons: Slightly more expensive than other options.
