It’s hard to find a person today who hasn’t
used File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP can be considered the backbone
for transferring files to and from a website. The basic premise of an
FTP server is based on placing files in directories and allowing users
to access or publish information with an FTP client or an FTP-enabled
web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer. Depending on the
placement and configuration of the FTP server, amateurs and
professionals alike can either upload or download data from the
Internet or intranet.
With Windows Server 2008 R2,
Microsoft listened to the needs of its IT community and accordingly
reengineered the FTP service for IIS after several years of neglecting
the component. It is now more robust, dependable, and it supports SSL
for data encryption. With Windows Server 2012, the revamped version of
FTP Server services is included with the product as an optional
component to be installed with IIS 8. It is fully integrated and can be
managed with the same IIS 8 administrative interface. FTP Server
Services with IIS 8 includes extended support for Internet standards,
such as FTP over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), support for extended
character sets by including UTF-8 support, support for IPv6, and newly
added with IIS 8, dynamic IP restrictions.
1. IIS 8 FTP Server Service Features
Microsoft has made many improvements to the
FTP Service for IIS 7.5 and IIS 8. First, the FTP Service has been
completely rewritten from scratch for IIS 7.5. As a result, it is more secure
and meets today’s industry standards for publishing content in a secure
fashion. The following is a list of features for the FTP Service
running on IIS 7.5 on Windows Server 2008 R2:
• Tight integration now exists with IIS 8 websites and IIS Manager.
• It supports today’s demanding security needs by supporting FTP over SSL.
• Organizations can now host multiple FTP sites with the same IP address, because the bindings support host headers.
• Both web and FTP content can be hosted from the same site.
• UTF8, IPv6, and integration with other repositories such as SQL Server are supported.
• Improved logging and diagnostics are now available.
In addition to the IIS 7.5 features, IIS 8 FTP introduces one additional powerful improvement:
• Dynamic logon attempt restrictions
now provide protection against brute-force attacks by dynamically
blacklisting IP addresses based on failed logon attempts.
Microsoft certainly realizes FTP is
not going away and is still the preferred method for publishing content
and exchanging large pieces of data between organizations. By rewriting
the FTP service, utilizing Extensible Markup Language (XML)
configuration files, and providing secured FTP, the product meets
today’s industry FTP requirements out of the box without the need to
purchase third-party plug-ins.
2. Installing the FTP Server
Similar to the earlier version of IIS, the
FTP publishing service is not installed by default. To add the FTP role
service included with IIS 8 running on Windows Server 2012, complete
the following steps in Server Manager after IIS has been installed:
1. From the Manage menu, select Add Roles and Features.
2. Click Next on the Before you Begin page after reading the notes provided.
3. Click Next to accept the default installation type of Role-Based or Feature-Based Installation.
4. Select the web server from the server pool and click Next.
5. On the Select
Server Roles page, install FTP 8 by expanding Web Server (IIS)
(Installed) in the Roles section and then expanding the FTP Server
section and selecting the FTP Service role service below it as well as
the FTP Extensibility role service if needed (see Figure 1). Click Next.
Figure 1. Selecting the FTP 8 features to install.
6. Click Next to accept the existing features.
7.
On the Confirm Installation Selections page, review the FTP roles,
services, and features selected for installation, and then click
Install to initiate the installation process.
8. Ensure the installation succeeded by reviewing the messages on the Installation Results page, and then click Close.
