File Transfer Protocol, or ftp, is similar to telnet in that it allows you to log into remote host systems. However, the hosts into which you log are special in that they act as servers that store and dispense files to other hosts. Let's begin with file types.
Binary files fall into three general classes as set forth below.
Therefore, if you wish to transfer a binary file from one host to another, you must tell the system that the file you are about to transfer is indeed binary. The result will be a useless, trashed file. You will see how to set the file type to binary before transfer. File compression is important because about 1,300 ftp hosts collectively store more than two million files. But, it actually contains 19 files that, uncompressed, take up a total of 188,475 bytes.