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This page is intended as a resource for those of you experiencing difficulty while uploading/downloading content through FTP to our web server here at the secret GWE volcano base :-) Take a look at the sections below for some advice from someone who has most likely worked through every conceivable problem in the "Uploading Via FTP" book. If you can't find a solution to your problem below, then you must have a doozy. When this happens, please call us at 249-6266 and we'll see if we can help you out over the phone.
Everyone Should Read This...
FTP stands for "File Transfer Protocol." It is a way for computers to transfer (i.e., upload and download) files from/to your computer to/from our web server here at GWE. All you need for FTP to work is an active Internet connection and an FTP program that will run on your computer (often called an FTP "client"). Your Internet connection can originate at any ISP, although it will almost always be us. However, if you are on vacation, for example, you could still use FTP to make changes to your web site--we would simply have to make an exception in your case to allow a foreign IP address through our firewall (see the section below called "Foreign IPs" for more on this). As for your choice of FTP clients, anything will do, but we usually recommend one called CuteFTP. You can find their home page at www.cuteftp.com, where you can download a copy of the latest CuteFTP client. You can also download an older version (v1.8) of CuteFTP (one that does not expire in 30 days) from our own software archive right here. I won't attempt to unravel any of the inner workings of just why FTP works the way it does, because all one really needs to know to begin FTPing their web content to us is how FTP works, and also, how it works in conjunction with our web server. Let's get started...
GWE uses the Apache Web Server running on a firewalled Linux platform. What this means for you, our end users, is a fast, reliable, and secure means of serving up your web content to the rest of the planet. Apache is the most widely-used web server software on the Internet, and for good reason. If you're at all interested in speed, security, and reliability in a web server, then check out some facts about Apache at SecuritySpace.com, and at Netcraft.com.
For those of you who are accustomed to uploading your web content via FTP without a thought for the case of your filenames, you're in for a bit of a change. On a Unix-based operating system (like Linux), the case of your filenames is most definitely important. Several examples will illustrate. In a Windows environment, you could probably get away with embedding a picture file in your HTML with something like src="bigboy.gif" even if the actual filename you were calling was called "BigBoy.GIF" Note the difference in capital letters between the two. This might work in Windows because Windows would not care about the differences in case between the two filenames, but Unix most certainly does care. To Windows, the two filenames of "bigboy.gif" and "BigBoy.GIF" are one and the same, but to Unix, these are two completely different files--case DOES matter in Unix. So, when working with the GWE web server, if you have a file called "BigBoy.GIF" that you want to display on your page, then you MUST call it with a filename of src="BigBoy.GIF" in your HTML code; nothing else will work. One more example to reiterate and close with. In a Windows environment, you can be fast and loose with mixed-case filenames and HTML code. On a Unix platform, you can't play the same game and get away with it. If you specify "Myfile.jpg" as a picture to load on your web page, then Unix will assume you know what you're talking about, and look for EXACTLY what you tell it to look for. So if the file "Myfile.jpg" does not exist in your directory, then you will get an error on your web page where the picture was supposed to be. Again, Unix assumes you know what you're doing (even if you don't), so learn to call files (and path names, etc.) exactly as they are named. When in doubt, there is an easy way to make sure that everything is on the level--put everything in lower case and you won't go wrong.
GWE also maintains a Microsoft-based IIS (Internet Information Server) Web Server for those of you who require it. However, I'm going to be perfectly honest with you when I say that the IIS web server, when compared with Apache, is an inferior product. I have worked with both, and I believe Apache is the better package. Above all, Apache running on Linux is vastly more stable than anything Microsoft has to offer. If, however, you can't live with anything but Microsoft and IIS, we can accommodate you.
The FTP Process...
The FTP process itself is a simple one. I will outline this process below and include screenshots where appropriate for your learning pleasure.
At its core, your FTP client should need only three pieces of information to connect to GWE. These three pieces of information are:
1) A host address. The host address you will want to use
is "ftp.gwe.net" without the quotes, of course.
2) Your username. Your FTP username is the same as your regular old
Internet username. So for example, if you log on to the Internet as supermojoman,
then your FTP username is also supermojoman. TIP: For the sake of
simplicity, all FTP usernames are lower case. If you have upper case
letters in your regular username, please convert them to lower case for the
purpose of logging in to the FTP server.
3) Your password. Your FTP password is the same as your regular old
Internet password. So for example, if you log on to the Internet with a
password of "QwertY", then your FTP password is also "QwertY"
without the quotes, of course. TIP: Take note of the upper case
"Q" and "Y" which need to be typed in just like they
appear--in upper case. If you have a mix of upper and lower case letters
in your password, please reproduce these exactly when you log in to FTP.
No matter what FTP client you're using to connect to GWE, if it's worth its weight in salt, it will have a place for you to input all of the above. If not, then it's best to take a look through the documentation that came with your FTP client--if only to find out what planet it's from. Seriously though, it doesn't get much easier than this, so if you're having problems with your FTP client, the quickest way to resolve the issue might be to download a copy of CuteFTP and use it. See the links at the bottom for some screenshots of a properly configured CuteFTP client.
If you are not a current dial-up/wireless customer with GWE, then you will not have a "regular old Internet username/password." In this case, we should have asked you for a username and password when your account first became active. If we neglected to do this, or if you need us to refresh your memory as to your username and/or password for use with GWE's FTP server, please give us a call at 249-6266.
Users of our FTP service who are not also current GWE dial-up/wireless customers will need to provide us with their IP address (if static) or the IP address block from which they will connect to GWE's FTP server (if dynamic). If you don't know what the heck I'm talking about here, your best bet is to contact your friendly system administrator and ask him/her for this information. The reason for this is security. For your own benefit and ours, we firewall our web/FTP server from the outside world on several levels. Normally, only clients connecting from our own class "C" IP blocks (i.e., our own dial-up/wireless customers) are allowed access to FTP. However, if you are not a current GWE dial-up/wireless customer, we can still "punch a hole" through the firewall and exempt your IP address, thus allowing you access to GWE's FTP server. Just let us know your IP, and we'll do the rest.
Stumbling Blocks...
If you attempt to login to the GWE FTP server with an incorrect username and/or an incorrect password, your FTP client will usually return an error 530 to you (e.g., "530 Login incorrect" or something similar). Take another look at the information you have entered into your FTP client. Make absolutely sure that your username and password are entered correctly. Even if they look correct, you might try deleting them (to make sure that there are no spaces, or other invisible characters in these fields) and then re-entering them again. Keep in mind the rules on case sensitivity discussed above--your username should be all lower case, but your password can be mixed case (just be sure to type it in precisely as it appears with regards to upper and lower case letters).
If you attempt to login to the GWE FTP server with an incorrect host address, your FTP client will tell you something like "Can't connect to server." Check the host address that you entered into your FTP client. It must be "ftp.gwe.net" without the quotes, of course. Even one superfluous character or space in the host address will throw the whole thing out of whack.
If you attempt to login to the GWE FTP server with a blank username and password, then you will be taken to our software archive where you can download some free programs. You will see files such as "cftp18.exe," "cute4032.exe," etc. that are free for the downloading. However, you probably didn't want this. Enter your username and password into your FTP client, and login again. You should now be taken to your personal web directory.
Every FTP user has a quota limit on the amount of data their directory can hold. For example, non-commercial, user-created home page directories have a limit of 2 megabytes. If you attempt to upload more than 2 Mb to a home page directory, the upload will fail. So, let's say that your home page directory already has 1.8 Mb of data in it, and you want to upload a 300k jpeg. When the upload of the jpeg hit 200k, the transfer would stop (and possibly attempt to re-transmit from the beginning, depending on the FTP client you're using). To remedy this problem, you will have to remove/delete some content from your directory in order to accommodate your new material. Quota limits for commercial web pages are variable, but they are usually 10, 20, or 30 Mb. See the GWE services page if you're unsure of the amount of storage space available for your commercial web page.
When we create a directory on the GWE web/FTP server to hold your web content, we must also specify to the server that only you have permission to upload and modify the files in your directory. If we were to make a mistake at this stage, you might be told by your FTP client that you don't have permission to upload/modify files in your own directory. If you experience something along these lines, you should let us know (at 249-6266), and we can fix the oversight in a matter of minutes.
Conclusion...
Well, that's it. That's enough information for you to
connect with the GWE FTP server. Take a look at the screenshot links
listed below to find out how CuteFTP should look on a properly configured
client.
CuteFTP v1.8 screenshots
CuteFTP v4.0 screenshots
