EDUCBA

EDUCBA

MENUMENU
  • Free Tutorials
  • Free Courses
  • Certification Courses
  • 600+ Courses All in One Bundle
  • Login

What is SFTP?

By Aanchal SinghAanchal Singh

Home » Software Development » Software Development Tutorials » Network Security Tutorial » What is SFTP?

what is SFTP

Introduction to SFTP

Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) is a secure version of File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and a part of the SSH Protocol for easy data transfer and data access over a Secure Shell (SSH) data stream. SFTP is also known as SSH File Transfer Protocol. It provides a secure connection to transfer files and traverse the filesystem on both the local and remote system. Encryption in SFTP is done using SSH connection, where files can be transferred using WinSCP and SFTP client.

How SFTP works?

SFTP works by using a secure shell data stream. It establishes a secure connection and then provides a higher level of protection for data while transferring it. It uses different encryptions that help move the data and ensure that data is unread, which is being processed. The SSH keys must be created in advance, and it helps to avoid fraud people from connecting to the server. SFTP works in a client-server architecture. In the case of the server, the data is usually present on the server. Though this server can be at a different location, the client can easily access the data by sending the request. When a user clicks on a file, this request is traversed through the network and ultimately reaches the server. This data is then sent to the server, which is requesting the data. The user will eventually get the file and make changes as per their needs. The SFTP ensures that all files are transferred in an encrypted format. The SSH keys help in transferring the public key to any system to provide access.

Start Your Free Software Development Course

Web development, programming languages, Software testing & others

How SFTP make working so easy?

SFTP has a wide range of operations that can be performed with remote files. It, therefore, can be called a remote file system protocol. The additional features which SFTP provides include getting uninterrupted file transfers. You can also make directory listings and remove files remotely. When compared to SCP, SFTP is more platform-independent. SCP is available only for the UNIX platform, SFTP is available for all platforms. Though SFTP is slower, it gets terminated easily without the entire session being terminated. It is easy to use as just by sharing your public SSH key; they can easily load the data on their server and associate it with your account. When the connection is established to the SFTP server, the client software can send your public key to the server for verification purposes. If these public key matches and with this, the user enters the user of the password needed, then the authentication is completed.

How to Transfer File by Using SFTP?

In SFTP, the encryption is done by using an SSH connection. There are two ways in which files can be transferred using SFTP:

  1. Using WinSCP
  2. Using SFTP Client

1. Using WinSCP

You need to follow the below steps in order to transfer files using WinSCP.

  • Download and install WinSCP.
  • When the screen launches, click on New.
  • Fill in the information in specified fields as below:
    • File Protocol: SFTP
    • Hostname: You can enter the hostname from where you need the data to be transferred
    • Username and Password: The username and password for your account on that server should be specified.
    • Port: The port is usually 22.
  • A warning may appear saying that you are about to connect to a remote machine. You can click on Yes for this warning.
  • Once this is done, you will be connected to the desired server, and you can see a window that shows two windows. One window will have all data on a server, and the other window will be having your Windows machine files. You can easily drag and drop files from the server to the Windows system or vice versa.

2. Using SFTP Client

Here you can make use of Cyberduck. You can download and launch this software and click on Open Connection. Similar to WinSCP, all details like File protocol, hostname, username, and password can be filled, and data can be transferred from source to destination.

Popular Course in this category
CDN Training (2 Courses)2 Online Courses | 6+ Hours | Verifiable Certificate of Completion | Lifetime Access
4.5 (5,418 ratings)
Course Price

View Course

Related Courses
OSPF Training Program (2 Courses)Penetration Testing Training Program (2 Courses)

Advantages of SFTP

Below are the different advantages of SFTP:

  • Speedy and Efficient: SFTP servers support large file transfers very easily and efficiently. Multiple files can be transferred from one server to another in one go. Due to this, a lot of time is saved. This method is much better than using emails or clouds. It makes it possible to directly exchange documents, forms, and business-critical files to the customer and on time.
  • Fewer risks during data exchange: SFTP makes use of encryption, public key authentication, data integrity, and host authentication. All data is encrypted before being transferred. This makes it non-decipherable while transit of data and no one except the receiver can decrypt the data. The public key authentication ensures that no imposter is making use of the intended data. Username and passwords need to be provided for authentication purposes. The data is also checked if it is coming from a trusted source. Also, the clients and sources are verified before establishing the connection.
  • Powers data accessibility: SFTP provides users to server and server to server facilities. This increases productivity.

Why Use SFTP?

There are many threats to data being sent over the internet. Many malicious attackers are sitting to hamper your data. In order to keep your data safe, it is very much necessary to make use of SFTP. It provides a lot of security for data in transit. SFTP safeguards all vulnerabilities throughout file transfer. It uses SSH2 message authentication code which hashes the data and, as a result, encrypts the data stream.

Conclusion

SFTP is hence one of the best protocols which provide data security which transmitting the data. It can transfer the data by just dragging the files and with lightning speed. It is efficient and hence is used very widely. If you wish to send files to a user or another server, SFTP is the solution.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to What is SFTP. Here we discuss the basic concepts, working, how to transfer files by using SFTP and why to use SFTP, along with the advantages. You can also go through our other suggested articles to learn more –

  1. What is Networking Protocols
  2. What is Man In The Middle Attack?
  3. What is Cross-Site Scripting?
  4. What is TCP/IP?

All in One Software Development Bundle (600+ Courses, 50+ projects)

600+ Online Courses

50+ projects

3000+ Hours

Verifiable Certificates

Lifetime Access

Learn More

1 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Primary Sidebar
Network Security Tutorial
  • Protocols
    • What is TCP Protocol
    • What is TCP/IP
    • How do IP Addresses Work?
    • Routing Protocols Types
    • What is Telnet
    • What is TFTP
    • What is DHCP
    • What is SFTP
    • Address Resolution Protocol
    • Internet Control Message Protocol
    • Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
    • Internet Security Protocols
    • SMTP Protocol
    • Types of Networking Protocols
    • User Datagram Protocol
    • Data Link Layer
    • Data Link Layer Services
    • Network Layer
    • Transport Layer Protocols
    • What Is Networking Protocols
    • TFTP
    • What is ARP
    • Basic Fundamental Of Networking
    • What is IPv4
    • What is IPv6
    • CIFS Protocol
    • What is SMB?
    • What is EIGRP
    • What is LLDP?
  • Basics
    • Security Consultant Definition
    • Security Policies
    • What is Network Security
    • What is Data Security?
    • What is Cryptography
    • Cryptography Techniques
    • Cryptography Tools
    • Data Security Techniques and Privacy
    • Digital Signature Cryptography
    • Java Cryptography
    • Basics of Cybersecurity
    • What is Network Topology
    • Algorithms and Cryptography
    • HTTP Methods
    • Security Technologies
    • Security Architecture
    • Network Topologies
    • What is a Physical Address?
    • Logical Address
    • What is Storage Area Network?
    • Mobile Ad Hoc Network
    • What is Computer Networks?
    • Security Principles
    • What is Remote Access?
  • Routing
    • What is Router
    • Types of Routers
    • Dynamic Routing
    • Routing Algorithms
    • Routing Protocol
    • What is Routing
    • What is Static Routing
    • Important Types of DNS Servers (Powerful)
  • Attacks
    • Types of Network Attacks
    • What is Trojan Horse Virus
    • What is DOS
    • Types of DOS Attacks
    • DDos Attack Mitigation
    • Ransomware Attack  
    • Types of Cyber Attack
    • What is a Brute Force Attack
    • What is a Phishing Attack
    • What is Cyber Attack
    • What is DDoS Attack
    • What is Man In The Middle Attack
    • What is Man In The Middle Attack
    • What is Ransomware
    • What is Pharming
    • What is Phishing
    • What is CSRF
    • DNS Amplification Attack
    • Denial of Service Attack
  • Algorithm
    • IDEA Algorithm
    • MD5 Algorithm
    • Symmetric Algorithms
    • Diffie Hellman Key Exchange Algorithm
    • Digital Signature Algorithm
    • Encryption Algorithm
    • Advanced Encryption Standard
    • Asymmetric Encryption
    • ElGamal Encryption
    • HMAC
    • DES Algorithm
    • Brute Force Algorithm
    • SHA Algorithm
    • RSA Algorithm
    • What is Digital Certificate?
    • Certificate Revocation
    • RC5
  • Encryption/ Decryption
    • Encryption process
    • Public Key Encryption
    • Symmetric Key Encryption
    • What is Encryption
    • What is Decryption
    • Types of Cipher
    • Transposition Techniques
    • What is Steganography
    • One Time Pad
    • Steganography Techniques
  • Hosting
    • Types of Web Hosting
    • Free Web Hosting Sites
    • What is Hosting
    • What is VPS Hosting
    • What is Web Hosting
    • Types of Domain
    • VPN Applications for PC
    • Why we use VPN?
    • What is Virtual Host?
  • Firewalls
    • What is a Firewall?
    • Types of Firewalls
    • Firewall Devices
    • Firewall Uses
  • Advanced
    • Cryptosystems
    • Configuring DHCP Server
    • Block Cipher modes of Operation
    • TCP/IP Model
    • Types of Network
    • Types of Network Devices
    • Types of Network Topology
    • Types of Intrusion Prevention System
    • Types of Proxy Servers
    • Types of Websites
    • Types of NAT 
    • Mobile IP
    • Career in Automobile Design
    • What is TFS
    • What is NAT
    • What is OSI Model
    • Data Link Layer OSI Model
    • What is Cross Site Scripting
    • Applications of Sensors
    • ARP Packet Format
    • Asymmetric Information
    • Autoencoders
    • What is FTP Server?
    • IPS Tools
    • IPv4 Header Format
    • IPv6 Header Format
    • Authentication Header
    • Kerberos
    • Network Mapper
    • Network Scanning Tools
    • Network Mapping Tools
    • Network Access Control
    • Vulnerability Assessment Tools
    • Network Sniffer
    • Networking Commands
    • Networking Devices
    • Networking Strategies
    • Digital Certificate
    • What is a Digital Signature?
    • Digital Signature Softwares
    • Digital Signature Types
    • Digital Signature vs Digital Certificate
    • PKCS
    • What is FTP
    • FTP Commands
    • What is MIME?
    • What is Smart Card?
    • Networking Ports
    • Mutual Authentication
    • Password Authentication
    • Data Masking 
    • Authentication Tokens
    • Biometric Authentication
    • What is IP?
    • IPSec
    • Secure Electronic Transaction
    • What is CIDR
    • Static Binding and Dynamic Binding
    • What is SSL
    • PKIX
    • Public Key Infrastructure
    • What is Wireshark
    • Daisy Chain Topology
    • Markov Logic Network
    • Security engineering
    • SNMP Monitoring Tools
    • Network Analysis Tools
    • Server Monitoring Tools
    • Network Discovery Tools
    • Network Management Tool
    • SIEM Tools
    • OSINT Tools
    • Multiple Ping Tool
  • Interview Questions
    • Network Security Interview Questions
    • Networking Interview Questions
    • EIGRP Interview Questions

Related Courses

CDN Training

OSPF Certification Training

Penetration Training Course

Footer
About Us
  • Blog
  • Who is EDUCBA?
  • Sign Up
  • Corporate Training
  • Certificate from Top Institutions
  • Contact Us
  • Verifiable Certificate
  • Reviews
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  •  
Apps
  • iPhone & iPad
  • Android
Resources
  • Free Courses
  • Java Tutorials
  • Python Tutorials
  • All Tutorials
Certification Courses
  • All Courses
  • Software Development Course - All in One Bundle
  • Become a Python Developer
  • Java Course
  • Become a Selenium Automation Tester
  • Become an IoT Developer
  • ASP.NET Course
  • VB.NET Course
  • PHP Course

© 2020 - EDUCBA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE CERTIFICATION NAMES ARE THE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

EDUCBA Login

Forgot Password?

EDUCBA
Free Software Development Course

Web development, programming languages, Software testing & others

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you
Book Your One Instructor : One Learner Free Class

Let’s Get Started

This website or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy. By closing this banner, scrolling this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to our Privacy Policy

EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you
EDUCBA
Free Software Development Course

Web development, programming languages, Software testing & others

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

Special Offer - CDN Training Learn More