Overview

Smart FTP is an all-inclusive FTP (file transfer protocol), SMTP, FTPS, SSH, and Terminal client that facilitates the transfer of information to and from Web servers using the latest state-of-the-art encryption methods. This software makes it easy to upload data from your computer's hard drive to the Web server that hosts your site, and is therefore a must have for any web developer that needs to simplify their content publishing/maintenance tasks.

Installation

At a file size of a little more than 14 MB, SmartFTP downloads and installs within a few minutes using an intuitive setup guide that even the most novice computer users can feel comfortable with. This software is compatible with Windows XP, 2003, Vista, and 7.

Interface

The SmartFTP user interface has a visual appearance that is similar to many other FTP clients because it is compartmentalized into two main quadrants – one devoted to your hard drive's files/folders, and the other devoted to your Web server's directories. At the bottom of the main window there is a section which displays files that are currently placed in the transfer queue, where you can rearrange the order of queued objects and allocate bandwidth priority.

Pros

• Makes it easy to backup, synchronize, download, and upload files on your hard drive and web server

• Drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy to pull files from Windows Explorer into the user interface

• Lets you remotely edit files that have already been uploaded to your server

• Integrated search engine makes it possible to quickly find files and folders that are located within server directories

• Transfer queuing feature lets you schedule operations and supports an unlimited amount of threads simultaneously

• Integrated proxy/firewall support that is compatible with Socks5, SOCKS4A, SOCKS4, and HTTP proxies

• Includes support for UTF-8 documents

• Integrated web browser makes it easy to view the changes you've made in real-time

• Provides multilingual support for more than 20 major languages

• Automatically reconnects and resumes broken transfers to maintain the quality of uploaded/downloaded files

• Includes an FTP command line, as well as the ability to create custom commands

• Integrated backup tool makes it easy to keep all of your files safe by preventing unnecessary data loss, while also making it easy to revert to previous server states

• Utilizes the latest encryption technology to prevent data interception

Cons

• Help documentation is not as extensive as the instructions that are included with some other FTP clients, however anyone that has used a similar program before should have no problem getting used to SmartFTP.

Alternatives

There are a plethora of open source, free available, with the most reputable alternatives to Smart FTP being , , , , and CuteFTP (, , ). Of these competitors, FileZilla is by far the most popular, and is perhaps the only one that can compete with SmartFTP in terms of overall functionality and user friendliness.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a software that will simplify your job as a webmaster or developer, SmartFTP provides a robust, comprehensive solution that is not only reliable, but is also very easy to become accustomed to.