RFC 414 (rfc414) - Page 1 of 5
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) status and further comments
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group A. Bhushan Request for Comments: 414 MIT-MAC Updates: RFC 354, RFC 385 29 November 1972 NIC: 12406 FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL (FTP) STATUS AND FURTHER COMMENTS A number of HOSTs have working server and user FTPs now. The following reflects the status of FTP implementations to the best of my knowledge: BBN(A and B), SRI-ARC, UTAH, CASE, USC-ISI, CCA, MIT-AI MIT- Mathlab, MIT-DMCG, CMU, AMES-67, and SU-AI have fully functionning server and user FTPs. MIT-Multics has user and server FTPs but the server does not listen on socket 3 (it can be started by normal login and the command ftp_server). UCSB will soon have user and server FTP's. The servers at all the TENEX systems are more or less identical (developed by Bob Clements at BBN). The servers at MIT-AI and MIT-ML are also identical (developed by Pitts Jarvis of MAC). Others currently involved with FTP include Arvola Chan (AC@MIT-DMCG), Ken Pogran (Multics), Greg Hicks (HICKS@UTAH), Wayne Hathaway (AMES-67), Ralph Gorin (SU-AI), Rick Werme (CMU), and Ron Stoughton (UCSB). The User-FTP or the user interface to FTP is where desirable and interesting features can be put in. An example of such a features is the BBN (and other TENEXes) "SNDMSG USER@HOST" feature which allows a local user to send messages (or mail) to other network users. If the remote host is not up, the message is stored as "--UNSENT-MAIL-- USERHOST" in the user's directory and a background job periodically checks for such files to send mail. MIT-AI and MIT-ML have a "TRANS" command which allows convenient transfer of files. At MIT-DMCG we have developed under the "CALICO" subsystem, generalized commands which allow local users to send mail, copy files efficiently, and list users and directories over the network in a manner similar to local usage (that is without having to explicitly connect, login, and send commands to a remote HOST). We also allow TELNET, FTP, and RJS users to automatically "login" and perform other command sequences from an "initial" file. It should be noted that file transfer between PDP-10's in "Image 36" is an order of magnitude faster (and more efficient) than in "ASCII 8". Note also that it is useful to provide a "Quote" or "talk" mode in user-FTP, to enable a user to input commands directly to the FTP server (i.e. commands not implemented in user-FTP). It is desirable Bhushan
