FTP, File Transfer Protocol, allows us to download and upload files from servers located on the Internet or locally. FTP is especially useful for transferring of large files that can't be sent as email attachments. You can also use FTP software to download and upload files to local servers such as Titan easily from any platform. On a related note, you should also know that you can use your Saturn home directory to serve files over the web. This page explains that procedure.

FYI: the file size limit of email attachments is 5MB so if you have files larger than that you must use alternative ways as decribed here. Please do not emails us regarding this. The size can not be changed.

FTP sites are usually distinguishable by having ftp in the URL. such as ftp.myserver.com. However, many can be accessed without having to specify the ftp part of the name as long as you are using FTP software which expects the server to be a ftp server. You can also access FTP sites using a web browser by typing the ftp url in the URL window:

ftp://ftp.myserver.com/ or ftp://myserver.com/

Most browsers will only allow you to download from ftp sites but some, such as IE 5.x or 6.x under Windows, will let you upload as well. In order to be able to upload with IE 5.x or 6.x you need to turn on Folder View for FTP sites in your Windows Internet Advanced Settings. If you run Safari under OSX it will mount the ftp site as a volume on the desktop which can be a bit confusing and doesn't always work well. If you have Fetch installed you can make it a default FTP helper so that when you click on an FTP link in Safari, or other browser under OSX it'll launch Fetch. Go here for detailed instructions.

You can even embed a username and a password in the ftp url:

ftp://user:password@ftp.myserver.com/

If you don't specify a user and a password the browser will assume anonymous user. Try this link for example:

ftp://Titan:Titan@titan.skb.med.nyu.edu/mcbi-41/titan/Park_Till_5am/

Because we are behind a firewall it is impossible to ftp to Saturn or Titan from the outside. However, there is a public FTP server set up beyond the firewall called mcftp.med.nyu.edu. Anyone can log in anonymously to this server (leave the user and password fields blank and/or check the Anonymous checkbox in your FTP software) and download and upload files using the directory called "private". If private gives you an error then try the "incoming" directory. This enables people to drop files there for you from the outside so you can fetch them from the inside. This is a protected directory which means once someone uploads a file from the outside it will "disappear" for them. You can still see them from the inside but they will not be able to delete, rename or overwrite that file once it's uploaded. Read the instructions below to learn how to use ftp software for Mac and Windows.

You can also access the mcftp server using a web browser to get files:

ftp://mcftp.med.nyu.edu/private/

If you want to make files available for download to people outside it's best to serve them from your home directory which is explained on this webpage.

We suggest that you use Fetch FTP program for Mac OS 9 or Mac OSX and WS-FTP LE software for Windows. Fetch for OS9 and WS_FTP LE are free programs. Fetch for OSX is a commercial program. NYU SoM has a multi user license for Fetch for OSX.

Download WS-FTP LE
Download Fetch for OS9
Download Fetch for OSX (SoM licensed copy for SoM users only)

INSTRUCTIONS

Using Fetch to connect to a server and upload and download files under Mac OSX. Titan is used as an example. Using Fetch under OS9 is nearly identical so there is no separate instructions page fo that.

Fetch advanced and misc settings.

Using WS-FTP LE for Windows to connect to a server and upload and download files. Titan is used as an example.
Using FileZilla for Windows to connect to a server and upload and download files. Titan is used as an example.