View source for Software:Comparison of file transfer protocols

{{short description|None}}
{{for multi|file sharing software|Comparison of file-sharing applications|file synchronization software|Comparison of file synchronization software}}

This article lists [[Communication protocol|communication protocol]]s that are designed for [[File transfer|file transfer]] over a [[Telecommunications network|telecommunications network]].

Protocols for [[Shared resource|shared]] [[File system|file system]]s—such as [[9P (protocol)|9P]] and the [[Network File System]]—are beyond the scope of this article, as are [[File synchronization|file synchronization]] protocols.

==Protocols for packet-switched networks==
A packet-switched network [[Data transmission|transmits data]] that is divided into units called ''[[Network packet|packets]]''. A packet comprises a [[Header (computing)|header]] (which describes the packet) and a [[Payload (computing)|payload]] (the data). The [[Internet]] is a packet-switched network, and most of the protocols in this list are designed for its [[Protocol stack|protocol stack]], the IP protocol suite.

They use one of two [[Transport layer|transport layer]] protocols: the [[Transmission Control Protocol]] (TCP) or the [[User Datagram Protocol]] (UDP). In the tables below, the "Transport" column indicates which protocol(s) the transfer protocol uses at the transport layer. Some protocols designed to transmit data over UDP also use a TCP port for oversight.

The "[[Port (computer networking)|Server port]]" column indicates the port from which the server transmits data. In the case of FTP, this port differs from the listening port. Some protocols—including FTP, FTP Secure, FASP, and [[Tsunami UDP Protocol|Tsunami]]—listen on a "control port" or "command port", at which they receive commands from the client.

Similarly, the encryption scheme indicated in the "Encryption" column applies to transmitted data only, and not to the [[Authentication|authentication]] system.

===Overview===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-weight:normal; line-height:2em" | {{smaller|Color key:}} {{pad|2ex}} {{legend2|#acf|[[International standard]]}} {{pad|2ex}} {{legend2|#d2ffd2|[[Internet Standard]]}} {{pad|2ex}} {{legend2|#ffb|Proposed Standard}} {{pad|2ex}} {{legend2|wheat|[[Internet Draft]]}}
! scope="col" colspan="2" | Protocol !! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Original author !! scope="col" rowspan="2" | First published !! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Protocol suite !! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Standard !! scope="col" rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | {{abbr|Refs|References}}
|-
! scope="col" | Full name !! scope="col" | Abbreviation
|-
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[CCSDS File Delivery Protocol]] || [[CCSDS File Delivery Protocol|CFDP]] ||  ||  2002|| {{n/a}} || {{operational|ISO [https://www.iso.org/standard/43829.html 17355:2007 (v4)]<br/>CCSDS [https://public.ccsds.org/Pubs/727x0b5.pdf 727.0-B-5]}} || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Software:Cross File Transfer|Cross File Transfer]] || [[Software:Cross File Transfer|CFT]] ||  ||  || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || 
|-
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Fast and Secure Protocol]] || FASP || [[Biography:Ying Xu|Ying Xu]], Michelle Munson, Serban Simu || 2007 || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || <ref>{{cite patent |country=US |number=20090063698 |status=patent |title=Method and system for aggregate bandwith control [sic] |pubdate= |gdate=30 May 2017 |fdate=5 March 2009 |pridate=4 September 2007 |inventor=[[Biography:Ying Xu|Ying Xu]], Michelle Christine Munson, Serban Simu |assign1=Aspera, Inc. |assign2=[[Company:IBM|IBM]] |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US20090063698}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport || FLUTE || [[Organization:Internet Society|Internet Society]] || 2004 || {{n/a}} || {{partial|{{IETF RFC|6726}}}} || <ref>{{cite IETF |title=FLUTE - File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport |rfc=3926 |last=Paila |first=Toni |last2=Luby |first2=Michael |last3=Lehtonen |first3=Rami |last4=Roca |first4=Vincent |last5=Walsh |first5=Rod |date=October 2004 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-03-07}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[File Service Protocol]] || [[File Service Protocol|FSP]] || Wen-King Su || 1991 || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || <ref>{{cite book |title=The Telecommunications Illustrated Dictionary |edition=2nd |editor-last=Petersen |editor-first=Julie K. |publisher=CRC Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-4200-4067-8 |via=Google Books |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YH_LBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA357 |chapter=File Service Protocol |page=357 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.faqs.org/faqs/fsp-faq/part2/ |title=File Service Protocol (FSP) Frequently Asked Questions [Part 2/2] |date=21 July 1995 |at=Section: "Who writes and maintains FSP software?" |website=FAQs.org |access-date=2018-03-03}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | File Transfer Access and Management || [[FTAM]] ||  ||  ||  || {{operational|ISO [https://www.iso.org/standard/15851.html 8571-4:1988]}} || 
|-
|-
| style="text-align:left" | FTP Secure || [[FTPS]] || [[Organization:Internet Society|Internet Society]] || 1997 || Internet protocol suite || {{partial|{{IETF RFC|2228|4217}}}} || <ref>{{cite IETF |title=FTP Security Extensions |rfc=2228 |last=Horowitz |first=M. |last2=Lunt |first2=S. |date=October 1997 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-03-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite IETF |title=Securing FTP with TLS |rfc=4217 |last=Ford-Hutchinson |first=Paul |date=October 2005 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-03-03}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | HTTP Secure || [[HTTPS]] || Taher Elgamal et al. || 1995 || Internet protocol suite || {{partial|{{IETF RFC|7230}}}} || <ref>{{cite magazine |title=Secure Sockets Layer |last=Sliwa |first=Carol |date=31 May 1999 |magazine=Computerworld |access-date=2018-03-01 |page=69 |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQMeZfQuVxoC&pg=PT37}}</ref><ref>{{cite IETF |title=The SSL Protocol |draft=draft-hickman-netscape-ssl-00 |last=Hickman |first=Kipp E. B. |date=April 1995 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-03-01}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Host Unix Linkage File Transfer || HULFT || {{dunno}} || 1993 || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || 
|-
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Micro Transport Protocol]] || μTP || Ludvig Strigeus, Greg Hazel, Stanislav Shalunov, Arvid Norberg, [[Biography:Bram Cohen|Bram Cohen]] || 2007 || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || <ref name="Norberg">{{cite web |url=http://bittorrent.org/beps/bep_0029.html |title=uTorrent transport protocol |last=Norberg |first=Arvid |date=22 June 2009 |website=BitTorrent.org |access-date=2018-03-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.slideshare.net/eCommConf/eric-klinker-presentation-at-emerging-communication-conference-awards-2010-america/11 |title=Eric Klinker Presentation at Emerging Communication Conference & Awards 2010 America § Status of uTP |last=Klinker |first=Eric |date=16 May 2010 |publisher=eCommConf |access-date=2018-03-10}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Multicast Dissemination Protocol || MDP ||  ||  ||  || {{nonpartisan|No}} || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Multicast File Transfer Protocol || MFTP || C. Kenneth Miller et al. || 1995 || {{n/a}} || {{partial failure|[https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-miller-mftp-spec-03 IETF Draft] {{small|(1998)}}}} || <ref>{{cite patent |country=U S |number=7710961 |status=patent |title=System and method for sending packets over a computer network |pubdate= |gdate=20 December 2011 |fdate=12 August 2010 |pridate=19 January 1995 |inventor=C. Kenneth Miller, Thomas Andresen, Thomas Gardner, Craig Michelson, Kenneth Cates, Marc White, Kary Robertson |assign1=Darby and Mohaine LLC |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US8081629B2/en}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | NACK-Oriented Reliable Multicast Transport Protocol || NORM ||  ||  ||  || {{ya|text={{IETF RFC|5740}}}} || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Odette File Transfer Protocol || [[OFTP]] || Organisation for Data Exchange by Tele Transmission in Europe || 1986 || [[X.25]] || {{partial|{{IETF RFC|6726}}}} || <ref name="Nash">{{cite IETF |title=ODETTE File Transfer Protocol |rfc=2204 |last=Nash |first=David |date=September 1997 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-02-22}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Odette File Transfer Protocol 2 || [[OFTP|OFTP2]] || Organisation for Data Exchange by Tele Transmission in Europe || 2007 || X.25, Internet protocol suite || {{ya|text={{IETF RFC|5024}}}} {{small|(V1.3)}} || <ref name="Friend">{{cite IETF |title=ODETTE File Transfer Protocol 2 |rfc=5024 |last=Friend |first=Ieuan |date=November 2007 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-02-22}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Reliable Blast UDP || RBUDP || Eric He et al. || 2002 || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || <ref name="He">{{cite conference |url=https://www.evl.uic.edu/eric/papers/He-Cluster-02.pdf |title=Reliable Blast UDP: Predictable High Performance Bulk Data Transfer |first1=Eric |last1=He |first2=Jason |last2=Leigh |first3=Oliver |last3=Yu |first4=Thomas A. |last4=DeFanti |date=September 2002 |conference=IEEE Cluster Computing 2002 |location=Chicago |book-title=Proceedings: IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing, ICCC (January 2002) |oclc=5942572037 |issn=1552-5244 |pages=317–24 |access-date=2018-03-02}}</ref>
|-
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Software:Secure copy|Secure copy]] || [[Software:Secure copy|SCP]] || Tatu Ylönen || {{dunno}} || [[Secure Shell]] || {{nonpartisan|No}} || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ssh.com/ssh/#sec-History-of-the-SSH-protocol |title=SSH: Secure Shell § History of the SSH Protocol |last=Ylonen |first=Tatu |date=31 August 2017 |website=SSH.com |access-date=2018-03-03}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol]] || S-HTTP || IETF Web Transaction Security Working Group || 1999 || {{n/a}} || {{partial|{{IETF RFC|2660}}}} || <ref>{{cite IETF |title=The Secure HyperText Transfer Protocol |rfc=2660 |last=Rescorla |first=Eric |last2=Schiffman |first2=Allan M. |date=August 1999 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-03-09}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Simple Asynchronous File Transfer || SAFT || Ulli Horlacher || 1995 || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || <ref name="fex">{{cite web |url=https://fex.belwue.de/saft/ |title=SAFT / sendfile |last=Horlacher |first=Ulli |website=fex.belwue.de |access-date=2018-03-03}}</ref><ref name="sendfile">{{cite web |url=http://manpages.org/sendfile |title=sendfile(1) |last=Horlacher |first=Ulli |website=manpages.org |access-date=2018-03-03}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Simple File Transfer Protocol || SFTP || Mark K. Lottor || 1984 || {{n/a}} || {{ya|text={{IETF RFC|913}}}} || <ref>Lottor (1984), pp. 1, 13</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | SSH file transfer protocol || SFTP || Tatu Ylönen || {{sort|1997|c. 1997}} || Secure Shell || {{partial failure|[https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-secsh-filexfer-13 IETF Draft] {{small|(2006)}}}} || <ref>{{cite mailing list |url=ftp://ftp.ietf.org/ietf-mail-archive/secsh/2012-09.mail |title=Re: where are SFTP v0 - 2 defined? |date=30 September 2012 |access-date=9 March 2018 |mailing-list=secsh |last=Ylönen |first=Tatu |quote=I designed and implemented the original SFTP protocol for SSH 2.0 back around 1997. Sami Lehtinen did further development on it.{{pb}}It was originally a proprietary protocol at SSH Communications Security (www.ssh.com), though source code was publicly available.  It took a while [''sic''] before we wrote the draft and brought it to the IETF for standardization (seems to have been January 2001). }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | T.127 || T.127 || [[Organization:International Telecommunication Union|ITU]]<ref name="ITU-IT T.127">{{cite web |url=https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-T.127 |title=T.127: Multipoint binary file transfer protocol |access-date=2021-03-23 |publisher=[[Organization:International Telecommunication Union|ITU]]}}</ref> || 1995 <ref name="ITU-IT T.127 (08/95)">{{cite web |url=https://www.itu.int/rec/dologin_pub.asp?lang=e&id=T-REC-T.127-199508-S!!PDF-E&type=items |title=T.127 (08/95) Multipoint binary file transfer protocol |access-date=2021-03-23 |publisher=[[Organization:International Telecommunication Union|ITU]]}}</ref> || {{n/a}} || {{operational|ITU [http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-T.127 T.127]}} || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Trivial File Transfer Protocol]] || TFTP || Noel Chiappa || 1980 || Internet protocol suite || {{ya|text={{IETF RFC|1350}}}} || <ref>{{cite IETF |title=The TFTP Protocol |ien=133 |last=Sollins |first=Karen R. |date=January 1980 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-02-24}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Tsunami UDP Protocol]] || [[Tsunami UDP Protocol|Tsunami]] || Mark Meiss et al. || 2002 || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || <ref>{{cite web |url=http://tsunami-udp.sourceforge.net/ |title=Tsunami UDP Protocol |last=Wagner |first=Jan |website=tsunami-udp.sourceforge.net |publisher=Jon Wagner |via=SourceForge}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://anml.iu.edu/research.shtml?prim=lab_research |title=Research |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729055331/http://anml.iu.edu/research.shtml?prim=lab_research |at=Section: "Tsunami" |website=anml.iu.edu |publisher=Pervasive Technology Labs at [[Organization:Indiana University|Indiana University]] |archive-date=2010-07-29}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Tus open protocol for resumable file uploads || tus || Felix Geisendörfer, Marius Kleidl et al. || 2014 || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || <ref name="github">{{GitHub|tus/tus-resumable-upload-protocol/blob/master/protocol.md}}</ref><ref name="tusio">{{cite web |url=https://tus.io |title=tus - resumable file uploads}}</ref> 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Software:UDP-based Data Transfer Protocol|UDP-based Data Transfer Protocol]] || [[Software:UDP-based Data Transfer Protocol|UDT]] || Yunhong Gu || 2004 || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | UDP-based File Transfer Protocol || [[Software:UFTP|UFTP]] || Dennis Bush || 2001 || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || <ref name="UFTP changes">{{cite web |url=http://uftp-multicast.sourceforge.net/Changes.txt |title=Changes |website=uftp-multicast.sourceforge.net |last=Bush |first=Dennis |publisher=Dennis Bush |via=SourceForge |access-date=2018-03-09}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Unix-to-Unix Copy || [[Software:UUCP|UUCP]] || [[Biography:Mike Lesk|Mike Lesk]] || 1979 || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Warp Speed Data Transfer || WDT || Laurent Demailly et al. || 2015 || {{n/a}} || {{nonpartisan|No}} || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/facebook/wdt/releases |title=wdt: Releases |website=GitHub |access-date=2023-04-07}}</ref>
|}

===Features===
The "Managed" column indicates whether the protocol is designed for [[Managed file transfer|managed file transfer]] (MFT). MFT protocols prioritise [[Secure transmission|secure transmission]] in industrial applications that require such features as auditable transaction records, monitoring, and [[End-to-end principle|end-to-end]] [[Data security|data security]]. Such protocols may be preferred for [[Electronic data interchange|electronic data interchange]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jscape.com/blog/oftp-odette-file-transfer-protocol |title=Managed File Transfer and Network Solutions |last=Villanueva |first=John Carl |date=17 February 2015 |website=JSCAPE.com |publisher=JSCAPE}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! scope="col" | Protocol !! scope="col" | Encryption<br/>{{small|(data)}} !! scope="col" | Transfer<br/>resuming !! scope="col" | [[Engineering:Multicast|Multicast]]<br/>capable !! scope="col" | [[Managed file transfer|Managed]] !! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{abbr|Refs|References}}
|-
|-
| style="text-align:left" | CCSDS File Delivery Protocol (CFDP) || {{None}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}}
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Software:Cross File Transfer|Cross File Transfer]] ([[Software:Cross File Transfer|CFT]]) || {{ya|text=[[Transport Layer Security|TLS]] / SSL}} ||  ||  || || {{yes}} <ref name="Axway Software">{{cite web |url=https://docs.axway.com/bundle/TransferCFT_324_UsersGuide_allOS_en_HTML5/page/Content/UNIX/UNIX_operations/Running_CFT/cft_installation_test_in_tcp_mode.htm |title=Transfer CFT 3.2.4 Users Guide § Configuring Transfer CFT |website=Axway.com |publisher=[[Company:Axway Software|Axway Software]] |access-date=2018-02-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219090305/https://docs.axway.com/bundle/TransferCFT_324_UsersGuide_allOS_en_HTML5/page/Content/UNIX/UNIX_operations/Running_CFT/cft_installation_test_in_tcp_mode.htm |archive-date=19 February 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="docs.axway.com">{{cite web |url=https://docs.axway.com/bundle/Transfer_CFT_322_UsersGuide_LocalAdministration_allOS_en_HTML5/page/Content/architecture/intro_security.htm#Transport_Security |title=Transfer CFT 3.2.2 Local Administration Guide § Transport Security |website=Axway.com |publisher=[[Company:Axway Software|Axway Software]] |access-date=2018-02-22}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Ether File Transfer Protocol ([[EFTP]]) || {{n/a|None}} || {{dunno}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref>{{cite web |url=http://xeroxalto.computerhistory.org/Indigo/Spruce/documents/PrintingAtParc.dm!1_/.appprinting.bravo.html |title=Printing at PARC—Appendix: Glossary of Terms § EFTP |quote=A simple, PUP-oriented protocol, designed for file transmission from user programs to servers (especially printing servers). The server must acknowledge each packet before the next is sent. This protocol admits to compact implementation in user programs, offset by some redunction in bandwidth. |date=4 August 1978 |access-date=2018-03-03}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Fast and Secure Protocol]] (FASP) || {{ya|text=AES-256 / AES-192 / AES-128}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} ||  || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/10/01/aspera/ |title=Aspera high speed file transfer: Let the cloud protocol wars begin |last=Pott |first=Trevor |date=1 October 2015 |website=The Register |access-date=2018-02-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://asperasoft.com/technology/transport/fasp/fasp-security-model/ |title=FASP Security Model |date=2017 |website=AsperaSoft.com |publisher=Aspera |access-date=2018-02-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://support.asperasoft.com/hc/en-us/articles/216125578-Resuming-file-transfers-with-ascp |title=Resuming file transfers with ascp |last=Campos |first=Andrea |date=2 June 2016 |website=AsperaSoft.com |publisher=Aspera |access-date=2018-03-02}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport (FLUTE) || {{optional|Optional/Unspecified}}{{efn|RFC 6726 suggests IPSec as one option.}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} ||  || <ref>{{cite IETF |title=FLUTE - File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport |rfc=3926 |last=Paila |first=Toni |last2=Walsh |first2=Rod |last3=Luby |first3=Michael |last4=Roca |first4=Vincent |last5=Lehtonen |first5=Rami |date=November 2012 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-03-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Analysis of the FLUTE Data Carousel |url=http://mad.cs.tut.fi/doc/Analysis_of_the_FLUTE_Data_Carousel_paper.pdf |last1=Peltotalo |first1=Jani |last2=Peltotalo |first2=Sami |last3=Harju |first3=Jarmo |website=mad.cs.tut.fi |page=1 |publisher=Tampere University of Technology |access-date=2018-03-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Performance analysis of a file delivery system based on the FLUTE protocol  |last1=Peltotalo |first1=Jani |last2=Peltotalo |first2=Sami |last3=Harju |first3=Jarmo |last4=Walsh |first4=Rod |orig-year=2006 |doi=10.1002/dac.835 |volume=20 |issue=6 |date=June 2007 |page=633 |journal=International Journal of Communication Systems|s2cid=260426266 }}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[File Service Protocol]] ([[File Service Protocol|FSP]]) || {{n/a|None}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.faqs.org/faqs/fsp-faq/part1/ |title=File Service Protocol (FSP) Frequently Asked Questions v1.1 |date=19 August 1996 |website=FAQs.org |access-date=2018-02-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://web.mit.edu/rhel-doc/4/RH-DOCS/rhel-sg-en-4/ch-ports.html |chapter=Common Ports |title=Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4: Security Guide |year=2005 |publisher=[[Company:Red Hat|Red Hat]] |access-date=2018-03-02}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | File Transfer Access and Management ([[FTAM]]) || {{dunno}}{{efn|name=ii}} ||  ||  ||  || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://sp.ts.fujitsu.com/dmsp/Publications/public/dp-openft-connection-to-customs-atlas-em-en.pdf |title=openFT v11.0: Setting Up a Connection to Customs (Atlas) with openFT FTAM |publisher=[[Company:Fujitsu|Fujitsu]] |year=2010 |page=2 |access-date=2018-02-18 }}</ref>
|-
|-
| style="text-align:left" | FTP Secure ([[FTPS]]) || {{ya|text=[[Transport Layer Security|TLS]] / SSL}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || 
|-
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Host Unix Linkage File Transfer (HULFT) || {{ya|text=[[Advanced Encryption Standard|AES]]}} || {{dunno}} || {{no}} ||  || <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gxsblogs.com/keifers/2009/08/the-incredible-hulft-my-favorite-b2b-network-protocol.html |title=The Incredible HULFT – My Favorite B2B Network Protocol |date=27 August 2009 |website=OpenText Blogs |publisher=[[Company:OpenText|OpenText]] |access-date=2018-02-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ecl.ntt.com/en/documents/service-descriptions/rsts/hulft/hulft.html#id7 |title=9.4.1. HULFT § Overview |website=Enterprise Cloud Knowledge Center |publisher=NTT Communications |access-date=2018-03-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ecl.ntt.com/en/documents/service-descriptions/rsts/hulft/hulft.html#hulft-8-cipher-option |title=9.4.1. HULFT § HULFT 8 Cipher Option |website=Enterprise Cloud Knowledge Center |publisher=NTT Communications |access-date=2018-02-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hulft.com/support/introduce |title=導入サービス |at=Section: "前提事項、その他" |website=HULFT.com |publisher=Saison Information Systems |language=ja |access-date=2018-02-21}}</ref>
|-
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Micro Transport Protocol]] (μTP) || {{n/a|None}} || {{yes}} || {{Yes-No|[[Peer-to-peer file sharing|Peer-to-peer]]}} || {{no}} || <ref name="Norberg"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Multicast Dissemination Protocol (MDP) || {{n/a|None}} ||  || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://downloads.pf.itd.nrl.navy.mil/docs/mdp/MdpDevGuide.html |title=Multicast Dissemination Protocol (MDP) Developer's Guide |last1=Adamson |first1=Brian |last2=Macker |first2=Joe |website=nrl.navy.mil |publisher=United States Naval Research Laboratory |access-date=2018-02-22}}</ref><ref name="nrl.navy.mil">{{cite web |url=https://www.nrl.navy.mil/itd/ncs/products/mdp/history |title=Multicast Dissemination Protocol History |website=nrl.navy.mil |publisher=United States Naval Research Laboratory |access-date=2018-02-22}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Multicast File Transfer Protocol (MFTP) || {{n/a|None}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || <ref>{{cite IETF |title=StarBurst Multicast File Transfer Protocol (MFTP) Specification |draft=miller-mftp-spec-03 |sectionname=IANA Assigned UDP Port |page=10 |last=Miller |first=Kenneth |last2=Robertson |first2=Kary |last3=Tweedly |first3=Alex |last4=White |first4=Marc |date=April 1998 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-02-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ics.uci.edu/~ejw/hidden/mftp.htm |title=StarBurst MFTP Compared to Today's File Transfer Protocols: A White Paper |year=1996 |publisher=StarBurst Communications |via=University of California, Irvine}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | NACK-Oriented Reliable Multicast Transport Protocol (NORM) || {{ya|text=[[IPsec]]}} ||  || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || <ref name="NACK-Oriented Reliable Multicast N">{{cite web |url=https://www.nrl.navy.mil/itd/ncs/products/norm |title=NACK-Oriented Reliable Multicast (NORM) |website=nrl.navy.mil |publisher=United States Naval Research Laboratory |access-date=2018-02-22}}</ref><ref name="Adamson">{{cite IETF |title=NACK-Oriented Reliable Multicast (NORM) Transport Protocol |rfc=5740 |last=Adamson |first=Brian |last2=Bormann |first2=Carsten |last3=Handley |first3=Mark |last4=Macker |first4=Joe |date=November 2009 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-02-22}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Odette File Transfer Protocol ([[OFTP]]) || {{n/a|None}} ||  ||  || {{yes}} || <ref name="Nash"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Odette File Transfer Protocol 2 ([[OFTP|OFTP2]]) || {{ya|text=[[Transport Layer Security|TLS]]}} ||  ||  || {{yes}} || <ref name="Friend"/>
|-
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Remote copy (rcp) || {{n/a|None}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref>{{cite web |url=http://sourcedaddy.com/networking/rlogin-rsh-and-rcp.html |title=Rlogin, RSH, and RCP |website=SourceDaddy |access-date=2018-02-18}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Software:Secure copy|Secure copy]] ([[Software:Secure copy|SCP]]) || {{ya|text=[[Secure Shell]]}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} ||  
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol]] (S-HTTP) || {{ya|text=[[Cryptographic Message Syntax|CMS]] / [[MIME Object Security Services|MOSS]] / other}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref>{{cite IETF |title=The Secure HyperText Transfer Protocol |rfc=2660 |last=Rescorla |first=Eric |last2=Schiffman |first2=Allan M. |date=August 1999 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-02-20}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Simple Asynchronous File Transfer (SAFT) || {{ya|text=[[Software:Pretty Good Privacy|PGP]]}} || {{dunno}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref name="fex"/><ref name="sendfile"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iana.org/assignments/service-names-port-numbers/service-names-port-numbers.xhtml?&page=9 |title=Service Name and Transport Protocol Port Number Registry |website=IANA.org |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Assigned Numbers Authority|Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]] |date=21 February 2018 |access-date=2018-02-22}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Simple File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) || {{n/a|None}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref>Lottor (1984), p. 10</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | SSH file transfer protocol (SFTP) || {{ya|text=[[Secure Shell]]}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ssh.com/ssh/sftp/#sec-SFTP-Port-Number |title=SFTP - SSH Secure File Transfer Protocol § SFTP Port Number |last=Ylonen |first=Tatu |date=10 October 2017 |website=SSH.com |access-date=2018-03-03}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | T.127 || {{n/a|None}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.itu.int/rec/dologin_pub.asp?lang=e&id=T-REC-T.127-200708-I!!PDF-E&type=items |title=ITU-T Rec. T.127 (08/2007) Multipoint binary file transfer protocol |page=4 |year=2008 |publisher=[[Organization:International Telecommunication Union|International Telecommunication Union]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.packetizer.com/ipmc/t120/primer/t120_primer.pdf |title=A Primer on the T.120 Series |year=1997 |orig-year=1995 |pages=2, 4 |publisher=DataBeam Corporation |access-date=2018-03-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Network Protocols Handbook |chapter=T.120: Multipoint Data Conferencing and Real Time Communication Protocols |date=January 2005 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D_GrQa2ZcLwC&pg=PA137 |edition=2 |page=137 |publisher=Javvin Technologies|isbn=9780974094526 }}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Trivial File Transfer Protocol]] (TFTP) || {{n/a|None}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref>{{cite IETF |title=The TFTP Protocol (Revision 2) |rfc=1350 |last=Sollins |first=Karen R. |date=July 1992 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-02-22}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Tsunami UDP Protocol]] || {{n/a|None}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bluepiit.com/blog/tsunami-udp-protocol-installation-setup-and-limitations/ |title=Tsunami UDP Protocol – Installation, Setup and Limitations |date=13 October 2015 |website=BluePiIT.com |publisher=BluePi Consulting |access-date=2018-02-20}}</ref><ref name="FC">{{cite web |url=http://filecatalyst.com/open-source-fast-file-transfers/ |title=Open Source Fast File Transfers |last=Tkaczewski |first=John |date=18 June 2012 |website=FileCatalyst.com |publisher=FileCatalyst |access-date=2018-02-24}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Tus open protocol for resumable file uploads (tus) || {{optional|Optional/Unspecified}}{{efn|It's recommended to use [[HTTPS]] provided by a webserver, proxy, or SSL terminator.}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref name="github"/><ref name="tusio"/> 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Software:UDP-based Data Transfer Protocol|UDP-based Data Transfer Protocol]] ([[Software:UDP-based Data Transfer Protocol|UDT]]) || {{unofficial|Experimental}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref name="FC"/><ref>{{cite conference |last1=Valeros Bernardo |first1=Danilo |last2=Hoang |first2=Doan B. |year=2010 |title=End-to-End Security Methods for UDT Data Transmissions |conference=International Conference on Future Generation Information Technology |book-title=Future Generation Information Technology |page=383 |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-17569-5_38 |isbn=978-3-642-17569-5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last=Valeros Bernardo |first=Danilo |year=2012 |title=Network Security Mechanisms and Implementations for the Next Generation Reliable Fast Data Transfer Protocol—UDT |type=Ph.D. thesis |publisher=University of Technology Sydney |oclc=830759422 |url=https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/21431/2/02Whole.pdf |pages=22, 91–102 |access-date=2018-02-21}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | UDP-based File Transfer Protocol ([[Software:UFTP|UFTP]]) || {{ya|text=AES-256 / AES-128 / 3DES / [[Engineering:Data Encryption Standard|DES]]}}{{efn|name=f}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || <ref name="FC"/><ref name="UFTP changes"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://wiki.wireshark.org/Protocols/uftp |title=Encrypted UDP based FTP with multicast (UFTP) |date=7 August 2016 |website=Wireshark Wiki |access-date=2018-02-21}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Unix-to-Unix Copy ([[Software:UUCP|UUCP]]) || {{n/a|None}} || {{some}}{{efn|The [[Software:UUCP#History|BNU]] implementation of UUCP can resume an interrupted file transfer.}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/01/09/uucp.html |title=Mobile Email with UUCP |last=Reifschneider |first=Sean |date=8 January 2004 |website=ONLamp |publisher=O'Reilly Media |access-date=2018-02-20 |archive-date=10 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210150712/http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/01/09/uucp.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Using & Managing UUCP |last=Ravin |first=Ed |year=1996 |edition=2nd |page=70 |publisher=O'Reilly & Associates |isbn=978-1-56592-153-5}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Warp Speed Data Transfer (WDT) || {{ya|text=AES-128 ([[Block cipher mode of operation#Output Feedback (OFB)|OFB]] / [[Block cipher mode of operation#Counter (CTR)|CTR]])}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}} || <ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSjvNPgrGRE  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/WSjvNPgrGRE| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=WDT RocksDB Dec 16 2016 |date=23 December 2016 |publisher=Laurent Demailly |via=YouTube |access-date=2018-02-23}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/facebook/wdt/wiki/Getting-Started-with-the-WDT-command-line |title=Getting Started with the WDT command line |last=Demailly |first=Laurent |date=17 October 2015 |website=GitHub |access-date=2018-03-01}}</ref><ref>{{GitHub|LazyZhu/wdt}}</ref>
|}

{{notelist|refs=
{{efn|name=a|Some implementations can obfuscate traffic using [[RC4]] et al. See [[BitTorrent protocol encryption]].}}
{{efn|name=ii|One implementation, Fujitsu openFT, applies [[Advanced Encryption Standard|AES]].}}
{{efn|name=f|These are the options in the reference implementation, which uses [[Software:OpenSSL|OpenSSL]].}}
}}

===Ports===
In the table below, the ''data port'' is the network port or range of ports through which the protocol transmits file data. The ''control port'' is the port used for the dialogue of commands and status updates between client and server.

The column "Assigned by IANA" indicates whether the port is listed in the Service Name and Transport Protocol Port Number Registry, which is curated by the [[Organization:Internet Assigned Numbers Authority|Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]] (IANA). IANA devotes each port number in the registry to a specific service with a specific transport protocol. The table below lists the transport protocol in the "Transport" column.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! scope="col" rowspan="2" colspan="2" | Protocol !! scope="col" colspan="3" | Data [[Port (computer networking)|port]] !! scope="col" colspan="3" | Control [[Port (computer networking)|port]] !! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Assigned<br/>{{small|by IANA}} !! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Assignee !! scope="col" rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | {{abbr|Refs|References}}
|-
! scope="col" | [[Server (computing)|Server]] !! scope="col" | [[Client (computing)|Client]] !! scope="col" | [[Transport layer|Transport]]
! scope="col" | [[Server (computing)|Server]] !! scope="col" | [[Client (computing)|Client]] !! scope="col" | [[Transport layer|Transport]]
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | [[Software:BitTorrent|BitTorrent]] || 6881{{efn|name=BT_port}} || 6881 || TCP || 6881 || 6881 || TCP || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA">{{cite web |url=https://www.iana.org/assignments/service-names-port-numbers/service-names-port-numbers.txt |title=Service Name and Transport Protocol Port Number Registry |date=28 February 2018 |website=IANA.org |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Assigned Numbers Authority|Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]] |access-date=2018-03-17}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | [[CCSDS File Delivery Protocol]] ([[CCSDS File Delivery Protocol|CFDP]]) ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | [[Software:Cross File Transfer|Cross File Transfer]] ([[Software:Cross File Transfer|CFT]]) || 1761{{efn|name=i}} ||  || TCP / [[X.25]] ||  ||  ||  ||  || <ref name="Axway Software"/><ref name="docs.axway.com"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Ether File Transfer Protocol ([[EFTP]]) || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a|None}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a|None}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | [[Fast and Secure Protocol]] (FASP) || ≥33001 ||  || UDP || 22 ||  || TCP || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport (FLUTE) || 4001 ||  || UDP ||  ||  ||  || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | [[File Service Protocol]] ([[File Service Protocol|FSP]]) || {{varies|Chosen by user}}{{efn|UDP port 21 is sometimes chosen for FSP.}} ||  || UDP ||  ||  ||  || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | File Transfer Access and Management ([[FTAM]]) || 4800 / 102 ||  || TCP ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://sp.ts.fujitsu.com/dmsp/Publications/public/dp-openft-connection-to-customs-atlas-em-en.pdf |title=openFT v11.0: Setting Up a Connection to Customs (Atlas) with openFT FTAM |publisher=[[Company:Fujitsu|Fujitsu]] |year=2010 |page=2 |access-date=2018-02-18 }}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" rowspan="2" | [[File Transfer Protocol]] (FTP) || style="text-align:right" | Active mode || 20 || 20 || rowspan="2" | TCP{{efn|name=d}} || rowspan="2" | 21 || rowspan="2" | ≥1024 || rowspan="2" | TCP || rowspan="2" {{yes}} || rowspan="2" | [[Biography:Jon Postel|Jon Postel]] || rowspan="2" | <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | Passive mode || ≥1024{{efn|name=c}} || ≥1024
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | FTP Secure ([[FTPS]]) || 989 ||  || TCP || 990 ||  || TCP || {{yes}} || Christopher Allen || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | HTTP Secure ([[HTTPS]]) || 443 ||  || TCP ||  ||  || TCP || {{yes}} || IESG || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Host Unix Linkage File Transfer (HULFT) || 30000 ||  || TCP ||  ||  || TCP || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | [[Hypertext Transfer Protocol]] ([[HTTP]]) || 80 ||  || TCP ||  ||  || TCP || {{yes}} || Tim Berners-Lee || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | [[Micro Transport Protocol]] (μTP) ||  ||  || UDP ||  ||  ||  || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Multicast Dissemination Protocol (MDP) || {{varies|Chosen by user}} ||  || UDP ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || <ref>{{cite web |url=https://downloads.pf.itd.nrl.navy.mil/docs/mdp/MdpDevGuide.html |title=Multicast Dissemination Protocol (MDP) Developer's Guide |last1=Adamson  |first1=Brian |last2=Macker |first2=Joe |website=nrl.navy.mil |publisher=United States Naval Research Laboratory |access-date=2018-02-22}}</ref><ref name="nrl.navy.mil"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Multicast File Transfer Protocol (MFTP) || 5402 ||  || UDP ||  ||  ||  || {{yes}} || Steve Bannister || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | NACK-Oriented Reliable Multicast Transport Protocol (NORM) ||  ||  || UDP ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || <ref name="NACK-Oriented Reliable Multicast N"/><ref name="Adamson"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Odette File Transfer Protocol ([[OFTP]]) || 3305 ||  || TCP / X.25 ||  ||   || TCP / X.25 ||  ||  || <ref name="Nash"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Odette File Transfer Protocol 2 ([[OFTP|OFTP2]]) || 6619 ||  || TCP / X.25 ||  ||  || TCP / X.25 ||  ||  || <ref name="Friend"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Reliable Blast UDP (RBUDP) || {{varies|Chosen by user}} ||  || UDP ||  ||  ||  || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Remote copy (rcp) || 514 ||  || TCP ||  ||  || TCP || {{yes}} ||  || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | [[Software:Secure copy|Secure copy]] ([[Software:Secure copy|SCP]]) || 22 ||  || TCP ||  ||  || TCP || {{yes}} ||  || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | [[Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol]] (S-HTTP) || 80 ||  || TCP ||  ||  || TCP || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Simple Asynchronous File Transfer (SAFT) || 487 ||  || TCP ||  ||  ||  || {{yes}} || Ulli Horlacher || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Simple File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) || 115 ||  || TCP ||  ||  || TCP || {{yes}} || Mark Lottor || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | SSH file transfer protocol (SFTP) || 22 ||  || TCP ||  ||  || TCP || {{yes}} ||  || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | T.127 || 1503 ||  || TCP ||  ||  || TCP || {{yes}} || Jim Johnston || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | [[Trivial File Transfer Protocol]] (TFTP) || 69 ||  || UDP ||  ||  ||  || {{yes}} || [[Biography:David D. Clark|David Clark]] || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | [[Tsunami UDP Protocol]] || {{varies|Chosen by user}} ||  || UDP ||  ||  || TCP || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Tus open protocol for resumable file uploads (tus) || 80{{efn|name=f}} ||  || TCP ||  ||  || TCP || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | [[Software:UDP-based Data Transfer Protocol|UDP-based Data Transfer Protocol]] ([[Software:UDP-based Data Transfer Protocol|UDT]]) || {{varies|Chosen by server}} ||  || UDP ||  ||  ||  || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | UDP-based File Transfer Protocol ([[Software:UFTP|UFTP]]) || 1044 ||  || UDP ||  ||  ||  || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Unix-to-Unix Copy ([[Software:UUCP|UUCP]]) || 540 ||  || TCP ||  ||  || TCP || {{yes}} ||  || <ref name="IANA"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" colspan="2" | Warp Speed Data Transfer (WDT) || {{varies|Chosen by server or by user}} ||  || TCP ||  ||  || TCP || {{no}} || {{n/a}} || <ref name="IANA"/>
|}

{{notelist|refs=
{{efn|name=BT_port|Typically, if port 6881 is unavailable as a listening port, the peer incrementally tries 6882–6889. Another port may be specified in software.}}
{{efn|name=i|1761 is the default port, but 1761–1768 are allocated by IANA.}}
{{efn|name=c|The server listens on TCP port 21 (the control port), and the client sends commands to this port from a random port above 1023. To transfer data in active mode, the server initiates a connection from port 20 to the client at the randomly selected port number.{{pb}}In passive mode, the client uses a random port above 1023 as a control port, and from this initiates file transfer. The server sends or receives data from a randomly selected port above 1023, and the client sends or receives data from one port number above its own randomly selected control port.}}
{{efn|name=d|FTP was originally designed for [[Network Control Protocol (ARPANET)|NCP]], a protocol used on [[Engineering:ARPANET|ARPANET]] before the advent of TCP. The TCP implementation of FTP was standardized in {{IETF RFC|959}}.}}
{{efn|name=f|Can be chosen by user, but layers on top of HTTP(S) so often 80/443}}
}}

==Serial protocols==
[[File:RS-232-Cable-9-25.jpg|thumb|160px|A 9-pin to 25-pin [[RS-232|RS-232]] adapter cable]]

The following protocols were designed for [[Serial communication|serial communication]], mostly for the [[RS-232]] standard. They are used for [[Upload|upload]]ing and [[Download|download]]ing [[Computer file|computer file]]s via [[Modem|modem]] or [[Engineering:Serial cable|serial cable]] (e.g., by null modem or [[Direct cable connection|direct cable connection]]).  [[Software:UUCP|UUCP]] is one protocol that can operate with either RS-232 or the [[Transmission Control Protocol]] as its transport.  The Kermit protocol can operate over any computer-to-computer transport: direct serial, modem, or network (notably TCP/IP, including on connections secured by SSL, SSH, or Kerberos).   OBject EXchange is a protocol for binary object wireless transfer via the [[Bluetooth]] standard. Bluetooth was conceived as a wireless replacement for RS-232.

===Overview===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! scope="col" | Protocol !! scope="col" | Author !! scope="col" | First released !! scope="col" | License !! scope="col" | Description !! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{abbr|Refs|References}}
|-
| style="text-align:left" | BiModem || Erik Labs || 1989 ||  || Bi-directional transfers. || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[BLAST (protocol)|BLAST]] || Communications Research Group || 1981 ||  || Powerful protocol originating on the Data General Nova minicomputer, and then ported to micros and mainframes. || <ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.birds-of-the-air-press.com/bota/blast/unix_today.pdf |title=Moving Files Can Be a BLAST |last=Magidson |first=Steve |date=15 May 1989 |newspaper=UNIX Today! |publisher=CMP Media |access-date=2018-02-18}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | C-MODEM || Lavio Pareschi || 1989 ||  || Packet lengths from 32 to 4096 bytes, optional (but normally used) streaming mode. || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | B protocol || [[Company:CompuServe|CompuServe]] || 1981 ||  || Offered file transfer as well as a command stream. || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | JMODEM || [[Company:Richard B. Johnson|Richard B. Johnson]] || {{dunno}} ||  || XMODEM derivative with blocks from 512 to 8192 bytes and RLE compression. || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | HS/Link || Samuel H. Smith || 1991 ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Kermit (protocol)|Kermit]] || Frank da Cruz et al. || 1981 || Open Source (BSD) as of 2011 || Transport- and platform-independent transfer of text and binary files across full- or half-duplex connections with conversion of text file formats and character sets. || <ref>da Cruz (1987) [https://books.google.com/books?id=_FEvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 p. 3]</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | LeechModem || Sam Brown || {{dunno}} ||  || Variations of X and Y that faked failed downloads in order to avoid BBS download quotas. || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Lynx || Matthew Thomas || 1989 ||  || Similar to Kermit: 64-byte packets, 2 to 16 packets per window, CRC-32. Little or no support outside the Lynx program itself. || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | NMODEM || L. B. Neal || 1990 ||  || Essentially XMODEM-CRC with 2048 byte blocks. || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | OBEX File Transfer Protocol || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} ||  || style="text-align:left" | A synchronous file transfer protocol in the OBject EXchange (OBEX) [[Bluetooth]] profile. || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | OBEX Push || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} ||  || style="text-align:left" | An asynchronous file transfer protocol in the OBject EXchange (OBEX) Bluetooth profile. || <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irdajp.org/irdajp.info/obex.html |title=OBEX (Object Exchange) Protocol |year=2011 |website=irdajp.org |publisher=[[Organization:Infrared Data Association|Infrared Data Association]] |access-date=2018-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221095941/http://www.irdajp.org/irdajp.info/obex.html |archive-date=21 February 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Punter || Steve Punter || {{dunno}} ||  || Suite of similar-but-different XMODEM-like protocols for various Commodore machines. || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | SEAlink || Thom Henderson || 1986 ||  || style="text-align:left" | A MODEM7/XMODEM-compatible protocol with sliding window support developed to avoid [[Engineering:Propagation delay|propagation delay]]s in satellite transmissions and packet networks. || <ref>{{GitHub|cpeterso/sealink/blob/master/sealink.c}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Mastering PC Communications Software |last=Held |first=Gilbert |publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold |year=1993 |page=74 |chapter=SeaLink}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Telecommunications Using ProComm & ProComm Plus Made Easy |last=Woggon |first=Michele |publisher=Prentice Hall |year=1995 |page=34 |chapter=SeaLink}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Software:SMODEM|SMODEM]] || Arisoft || {{dunno}} ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | TMODEM || Mike Bryeans || {{dunno}} ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Software:UUCP|UUCP]] || [[Biography:Mike Lesk|Mike Lesk]] || 1979 ||  || Suite of protocols for copying files between Unix machines, used for many purposes including the distribution of email. Also allows commands to be sent, which led to the first internet worms. The file transfer protocol within UUCP is the "g" protocol. || <ref>{{cite web |title=UUCP protocol internals |url=http://www.math.utah.edu/docs/info/uucp_5.html#SEC53 |website=University of Utah }}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | MODEM7 || Mark M. Zeigler, James K. Mills || 1980 ||  || Slight extension of XMODEM to add filename support and batch transfers. || <ref>{{cite magazine |last=Lucas |first=Jay |date=6 September 1982 |title=Freeware: Modem lets your computers communicate |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CDAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA53 |magazine=InfoWorld |publisher=IDG |page=53 |access-date=2018-02-18}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | XMODEM || Ward Christensen || 1977 || {{good|Public domain}} || Very simple protocol that saw widespread use and provided the pattern for many following protocols. || <ref>Glass (1988) [https://books.google.com/books?id=4D4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA87 p. 87]</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | WXMODEM || Peter Boswell || 1986 || {{good|Public domain}} || Version of XMODEM with sliding windows for higher performance. || <ref name="Glass_p89">Glass (1988) [https://books.google.com/books?id=4D4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA89 p. 89]</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.zoklet.net/totse/en/technology/telecommunications/wxmodem.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140923084745/http://www.zoklet.net/totse/en/technology/telecommunications/wxmodem.html |archive-date=2014-09-23 |title=How XModem, XModem CRC, and WXModem work |last=Boswell |first=Peter |year=2007 |orig-year=1986 |via=Totse.com}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | YMODEM || Chuck Forsberg || 1985 || {{good|Public domain}} || Series of optional expansions on XMODEM for higher performance. || <ref name="Glass_p89"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | ZMax || Mike Bryeans || {{sort|1991|c. 1991}} ||  || Modifications to ZMODEM to allow packets up to 32 kB in length. || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | ZMODEM || Chuck Forsberg || 1986 || {{good|Public domain}} || Streaming protocol that forsakes XMODEM compatibility but offers a wide variety of new features and improved performance. Became almost universal on BBS systems in the early 1990s. || <ref name="Glass_p89"/>
|}

===Features===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! scope="col" | Protocol !! scope="col" | Data block size<br/>{{small|(bytes)}} !! scope="col" | [[Data compression|Data<br/>compression]] !! scope="col" | Error detection !! Transfer<br/>resuming !! scope="col" | Bidirectional !! scope="col" | Sliding window !! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{abbr|Refs|References}}
|-
| style="text-align:left" | BiModem ||  ||  ||  ||  || {{yes}} ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[BLAST (protocol)|BLAST]] || 84 - 1024+ || [[Run-length encoding|RLE]] || [[Cyclic redundancy check|CRC]] || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || <ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.birds-of-the-air-press.com/bota/blast/unix_today.pdf |title=Moving Files Can Be a BLAST |last=Magidson |first=Steve |date=15 May 1989 |newspaper=UNIX Today! |publisher=CMP Media |access-date=2018-02-18}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | C-MODEM || 32–4096 ||  || CRC || {{yes}} ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | B protocol || 128–2048 ||  || CRC32 / CRC16 / 8-bit checksum || {{yes}} ||  || {{yes}} || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | JMODEM || 64–8192 || [[Run-length encoding|RLE]] ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | HS/Link ||  ||  || CRC32 || {{yes}} || {{yes}} ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Kermit (protocol)|Kermit]] || ≤9024 (negotiated) || [[Run-length encoding|RLE]] (run length encoding, negotiated) || [[Checksum]] or CRC16 (negotiated) || {{yes}} (binary files only, negotiated) || {{no}} || {{optional|Over full-duplex only (negotiated)}} || <ref>da Cruz (1987) pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=_FEvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA234 234], [https://books.google.com/books?id=_FEvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA253 253], [https://books.google.com/books?id=_FEvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA307 307]</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | LeechModem ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Lynx ||  || RLE || CRC32 || {{yes}} ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | NMODEM || 2048 ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | OBject EXchange ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Punter ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | SEAlink ||  ||  ||  || {{yes}} ||  || {{yes}} || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Software:SMODEM|SMODEM]] ||  ||  ||  ||  || {{yes}} ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | Tmodem ||  ||  ||  || {{no}} ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | [[Software:UUCP|UUCP]] "g" || ≤4096 || {{no}} ||  || {{no}} ||  ||  || <ref>{{cite book |title=Guide to Linux Installation and Administration |last=Wells |first=Nicholas |page=140 |chapter=Using UUCP for Remote Access |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jQE-iUCjUKAC&pg=PA140 |publisher=Course Technology |isbn=978-0-619-00094-3 |year=2003 |via=Google Books }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://docs.freebsd.org/info/uucp/uucp.info.g_Protocol.html |title=UUCP 'g' Protocol |last=Taylor |first=Ian Lance |website=FreeBSD Documentation Server |publisher=The FreeBSD Project |access-date=2018-03-08}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | MODEM7 || 128 || {{no}} || Checksum ||  ||  || {{partial|[[Stop-and-wait ARQ]]}} || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | XMODEM || 128 || {{no}} || Checksum ||  ||  || {{partial|Stop-and-wait ARQ}} || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | WXMODEM || ≤512 ||  ||  ||  ||  || {{yes}} || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | YMODEM || 1024 || {{no}} || CRC16 ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | ZMax || ≤~32,768 ||  || CRC32 ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| style="text-align:left" | ZMODEM || 256 / 1024 || {{no}} || CRC32 || {{yes}} ||  || {{yes}} || 
|}

==See also==

{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* [[Software:Comparison of file-sharing applications|Comparison of file-sharing applications]]
* [[Software:Comparison of file synchronization software|Comparison of file synchronization software]]
* [[Software:Comparison of distributed file systems|Comparison of distributed file systems]]
* [[Lists of network protocols]]
* [[List of TCP and UDP port numbers]]
* [[Software:List of backup software|List of backup software]]
* [[AS2]]
* [[Software:Connect:Direct|Connect]]
* [[Files transferred over shell protocol]] (FISH)
* [[Pragmatic General Multicast]]
* [[Sendfile]]
* [[Software:Waarp|Waarp]]
}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |title=Kermit: A File Transfer Protocol |last=da Cruz |first=Frank |location=Bedford |publisher=Digital Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-932376-88-6 |oclc=751527576 |via=Google Books |url=https://archive.org/details/kermitfiletransf0000dacr }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.kermitproject.org/kproto.pdf |title=Kermit Protocol Manual |last=da Cruz |first=Frank  |date=June 1986|website=KermitProject.org 
|publisher=The Kermit Project}}
* {{cite magazine |title=Xmodem Popular for Its Simplicity, Public Domain Status |last=Glass |first=Brett |date=30 May 1988 |magazine=InfoWorld |via=Google Books}}
* {{cite IETF |title=Simple File Transfer Protocol |rfc=913 |last=Lottor |first=Mark K. |date=September 1984 |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |accessdate=2018-03-01}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web |url=http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Multicast-HOWTO-9.html |title=Multicast Transport Protocols |work=Multicast over TCP/IP HOWTO |last=de Goyeneche |first=Juan-Mariano |date=20 March 1998 |via=The Linux Documentation Project}}
* {{citation |title=Survey of Protocols and Mechanisms for Enhanced Transport over LONG FAT PIPES |last1=He |first1=Eric |last2=Kettimuthu |first2=Rajkumar |last3=Gu |first3=Yunhong |display-authors=0 |chapter=Reliable UDP Variants |pages=6–11 |chapter-url=https://www.globus.org/sites/default/files/Survey.pdf}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Kaplan |first=Ali |title=Collaborative Framework for High-Performance P2P-based Data Transfer in Scientific Computing |type=Ph.D. thesis |publisher=Indiana University Bloomington |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-109-50327-2 |oclc=648765323 |chapter=Literature Survey |pages=12–39 |url=http://dsc.soic.indiana.edu/publications/ali.kaplan.proofreading.V6.docx |format=DOCX}}
* {{cite book |title=The Working Programmer's Guide to Serial Protocols |last=Kientzle |first=Tim |year=1995 |publisher=Coriolis Group Books |isbn=978-1-883577-20-9 |oclc=441637109}}
* {{cite web |url=http://kermitproject.org/kermit.html |title=About Kermit |website=KermitProject.org |publisher=The Kermit Project}}
* {{cite web |url=http://kermitproject.org/archive.html |title=The Kermit Software Archive |website=KermitProject.org |publisher=The Kermit Project}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:File transfer protocols}}
[[Category:File transfer protocols|*]]
[[Category:Lists of software]]

{{Sourceattribution|Comparison of file transfer protocols}}