Dear Jay,
Aha. So now we are reduced to direct questions, are we? There are no
absolutes, anywhere. But I sense that you are a true seeker of
knowledge - one who desires full and complete accounting of all
involved issues.
I, therefore, being a true FrontPatriot, will take a stand. By the way,
the term 'FrontPatriot' is © 1999, Nicholas Savalas -
http://savalas.tv - all rights reserved.
Your situation is NORMAL.
With a few caveats, of course. There are, as I said, NO absolutes.
First of all, the way you, or anyone, makes connection to the Internet,
and therefore transfers files, has to abide by specified rules of
engagement. The 'International Law' of the Internet (apparently chaired
by United States Vice-President Al Gore, but that is another topic)
demands that there be some kind of error-checking. No one wants
incomplete data. Here is the scenario - picture this. "Once upon a
time, it was a bright and sunny day, and..."
....you are surfing to your favorite Internet romance site (using HTTP,
our Cupid) - and your modem (MOdulator-DEModulator, our hero) receives
a packet of information, say, 22 bytes long. The sender (Server, our
love interest in this tryst) also sends a little love note on the tail
end of the packet that says, "Dear Modem: I have just sent you a packet
of data 22 bytes long. Have you received it? R.S.V.P. Love, Your
Server.", and then waits for Modem (or whatever), to reply, "Dearest
Server: Yes. I have received your lovely packet of data that is, as you
told me, exactly 22 bytes in length, and I thank you for your kindness.
I anxiously await your next packet. Love, Modem." The ever-attentive
server then sends the next packet of data, because you have told Server
that you have received the last packet in its' entirety. This beautiful
story, brought to you by Vice-President Al Gore, is entitled:
"Error-Checking".
But, in Chapter 2 of Mr. Gore's Love-Saga, we have the introduction of
another character, the coarse and pushy FTP, who just rushes around,
assuming that he, the brute, can go as fast as all get-out. He starts
to cycle up - first 1k/sec, then 5k/sec, then faster and faster, until
Mr. Gore steps in, and says, "Wait! You cannot rush around like a
banshee - your data has to be error-checked, too.", and FTP slows down
to his maximum, error-checked, throughput rate, still just tossing data
around. FTP seems to be going faster, but is it really?
On small files, like our original, two-headed, 22 byte love packet
(sent through HTTP/Cupid), the speed is the speed of our connection,
with error correction, "...always and forever".
FTP, on the other hand, has to actually AUTHENTICATE itself to the
server with every single file. FTP says: "Watch out! I'm coming in with
this packet of data!", but the server says, "Hold it, Hercules. No one
enters here without the proper credentials. Who are you, and what's the
magic word?"
Sheepishly, FTP replies, "Um... OK - I am username so-and-so, and my
password is whatever". Server, ever attentive, checks its' credentials
against its' guest list, and says, "OK - you can come in - but only
this once", and closes the connection when the FTP data transfer FOR
THAT FILE is complete. FTP returns with another file, but again, Server
demands authentication. Server does it for every file, no matter it's
size. HTTP only requires the authentication (in most cases) only once.
The moral of the story? If you are sending ONE BIG BOX - there is
little to compare to FTP. If your site has hundreds and hundreds of
little files, HTTP (aka FrontPage) may sometimes even exceed the speed
of FTP.
Good luck, Jay. May all of your file transfers be happy ones.
Nicholas Savalas -
http://savalas.tv
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