WS_FTP has grown a lot since it first arrived on the scene, and in its latest incarnation offers a host of features that allow it to operate as a standalone FTP server or as a tightly integrated component in your Windows 2003 or Windows 2008 Server environment. According to ServerWatch, version 7.5 of WS_FTP is more secure than ever before, rating it worthy of serious consideration.
When you need to exchange sensitive files with customers or business partners, simply tacking them onto e-mails as attachments isn’t an option — at least not if you’re governed by any of the alphabet soup of data privacy regulations. Rather, you need a secure file transfer product, such as Ipswitch’s WS_FTP Server 7.5.
WS_FTP Server is compatible with Windows 2003 or 2008 servers (both 32- and 64-bit versions) as well as XP Professional systems. For those looking to run their FTP server in a virtualized environment, WS_FTP Server also supports Microsoft’s Hyper-V and VMWare’s ESX platforms.
WS_FTP Server is available in three flavors, which differ mainly in the number of encrypted file transfer options available. The base $695 WS_FTP Server provides standard FTP and secure SSL/FTPS transfers. A $1,495 step-up Server with SSH edition adds — you guessed it — SSH/SFTP support. Finally, the top-level WS_FTP Server Corporate further adds SCP2 as well as browser-based HTTP/S transfers, which eliminates the need for users to have FTP client software. All quoted prices include one-year support agreements. The two lesser versions of WS_FTP Server offer HTTP/S as a $2,495 add-on module. All WS_FTP Server versions offer 256-bit AES encryption for transfers and use SHA-512 to verify the integrity of files. FIPS 140-2 validation is also included, although it’s not enabled by default.
WS_FTP Server is completely self-contained, so it doesn’t necessarily require an external database or Web server. On the database side, WS_FTP Server includes an integrated copy of Postsgre SQL 8.3.7, but it will also work with Microsoft SQL Server 2005/2008, either Standard or Express.
