Downloading and Transferring Files
The final end user application covered here is a broad topic
area, but with one central theme: moving files into and out of your computer
using a network. In most cases, the end user does not have the file, and he
wants to get it. However, the user might want to do the opposite; in other
words, he might want to move a file on his computer to another computer.
Regardless of whether the user wants to retrieve a file or transfer a file to
someone else, the action still falls under the category of file transfer. File transfer refers to a network
application that allows a user to copy files from one computer to another.
The term download typically refers to the
process of retrieving a file that someone else has and making a copy on your
computer. So, downloading would technically be the same thing as file transfer.
(Conversely, the term upload refers to transferring a
file from your computer to another computerin other words, giving a copy of the
file to another computer.) One rather mundane type of file downloading is when
you decide to update the software on a networking device. The vendor that sells
the device allows you to download new software via the Internet. The vendors are
happy to have you download the files; that's a lot cheaper for them than mailing
the software to you using the postal service.
A more interestingand much more controversialexample of
downloading is the downloading of music files. I would imagine that a lot of you
who are already active on the Internet know what I'm talking about already! It
started with a craze called Napster, which eventually reinvented itself after
lawsuits from the music industry. Several other tools have also emerged, all
with the same goal: to allow people to download copies of music, often without
paying for it. Legal and moral issues aside, these services allow you to move
files, so they fall into the category of file transfer.
Like web browsing and e-mail, file transfer can be used in an
enterprise network or across the Internet. For example, imagine that Fred and
Barney need to work on a project, and each needs to update a file called
myproject.doc. Fred does not work at the same company as Barney, so Barney's
file server is not available to Fred for security reasons. Figure 2-9 outlines the basic process.
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