Looking for a FTP Hosting Company

[martyp87]

Hi all,

I'm a competent computer user but when it comes to online services I have absolutely no idea on what I am looking for.

Basically, I have a company whereby I am now looking to share files with clients via a FTP server. I have a domain name (no website as yet) which I use to link a hosted Exchange server to.

I would like to (if possible) link a FTP server to this site also. (e.g. ftp.mysitename.co.uk) although would be happy with a half decent standard name supplied by a supplier if that isn't possible.

FileZilla would be my recommended client (Mac OS and Windows) and is simple to use and includes file download/upload verification, so I can do a quick manual on setting it up.

I spoke with Backspace who do my Exchange server although they were talking about using the cloud.

Is there any company out there that offers a FTP service, 24/7 reliability and can hold 10Gb of data with circa 20Gb traffic per month at a decent price (<£100)?

Thank you in advance!

Martin

 

[markmifsud]

£100 ? I only pay £85 a month for each of my 4 hosted servers. Filezilla server is pretty good for a windows server, and there are equally good ftpd servers for linux (I use vsftpd). I do run FTP servers but these days I run some customised code to supply ftp like services via a normal browser. My servers have 1tb raid 1 storage and unlimited transfers.

FTP is certainly the best was to transfer large files, but for many the clients are not intuitive enough and theres also the issue of being allowed to install things locally.

My servers have been vetted by a few of the larger Banks security teams to ensure they are robust and secure enough to be allowed to offer services and store/transfer files to their backend staff.

If you want to have a chat about different options your more than welcome to take this to PM/Email

 

[MancMike]

You've lots of options, there's several cloud storage providers that'll give you 10GB+ for free, and unlimited data transfer.

If you want it hosted at your domain name, you can get any reasonable web hosting which will offer you at least 10GB of storage and more data transfer than you'll ever need, and you can point your domain at the host, so use ftp.yourdomain.co.uk, etc. It'll probably also have a control panel like Plesk, or cPanel, so you can administer it easily without needing to SSH to a shell and administer it via command line, so it'll be simple for you to setup FTP access credentials, etc.

If the files are sensitive though, I wouldn't touch FTP. It's just not secure, at all. sFTP is a huge leap ahead, although there'll be encryption overheads at both ends which will slow transfer speed down slightly if either client is running on an underpowered machine. sFTP and FTPS are different, but either is preferable to plain unencrypted FTP.

You won't need to hand over close to £100 a month. I pay £60 per month for a very powerful fully dedicated server with 1TB storage, 1Gb/s connection and unlimited transfer. I need the processing power, but you don't, so don't expect to pay close to that.

 

[markmifsud]

Actually, pay me £50 a month and I will give you 40gb space and 60gb transfers

 

[MancMike]

My servers have been vetted by a few of the larger Banks security teams to ensure they are robust and secure enough to be allowed to offer services and store/transfer files to their backend staff.

Oh, ye olde PCI compliance checks... We get these too.

 

[markmifsud]

Oh, ye olde PCI compliance checks... We get these too.

TBH, I could pass their tests with my eyes closed. I dont use risky software like wordpress, my services are all behind ssl and there are no cloud offerings where I have no control of the actual data thats stored.

 

[MancMike]

Yeah, but one time they actually failed us because the firewall on our load balancer wouldn't let them carry out the tests they wanted to do...

We had to whitelist their IP to let them carry out the tests which we then passed anyway...

 

[markmifsud]

Yeah, but one time they actually failed us because the firewall on our load balancer wouldn't let them carry out the tests they wanted to do...

That is very typical. They come in like they know everything about security and then they talk about things that have no bearing on anything.

But like you, I have the ports open that I need open. Those that are for my use, ie SSH are bound to just 2 addresses within my wan.

 

[markmifsud]

BTW, in case anyone is wondering, the offer of taking this to PM/Email is purely to offer advice and assist, I am not trying to sell him anything

 

[martyp87]

I did reply to this although I have no idea where it went! oops!

First off, thanks for the responses and help.

Cheapest hosted server I could find in RackSpace was £600 p/m!!! - link

Its great to know the FTP server won't cost any where near £100 for what I need. If it can be done for less than £35 for 20Gb with 40Gb transfer, ability to create two accounts (one admin, one user (read-only) that would be perfect!!!

My files are not secure and my clients know how to setup a FTP server so having it hooked up to my domain name will be the icing on the cake.

Next year, it will be linked to a online database to display the content although at this point in time, I just need something set up quick and both myself and my clients can quickly use.

Thanks again, great to see theres so many IT gurus on here!

 

[markmifsud]

martin, sent you a PM

 

[markjay]

Assuming you fon't have thousands of clients, why not host the server at your office?

If FTTC is available in your area it will work fine.

You will need a basic firewall for NAT, and a Static IP or DynDNS/No-IP service etc.

The server can be whatever you want it to be, from a basic PC or Laptop to an HP ProLiant or Dell PowerEdge, running Windows or Linux.

And all these are one-off costs - there are no running costs after the initial install.

 

[Deleted96908]

Some very good suggestions here.

An alternative to consider is Sharepoint Online (SP) from Microsoft. It doesn't offer FTP, but instead you can file share, to anonymous and logged in users. SP also offers comprehensive workflow allowing you to set up approval processes for docs before they are shared, plus email announcements to recipients once they have been added to a 'share'. The Enterprise version allows you to track access too.

We use SP for sharing very large files (TV production) and previously, before I got ****** off with the banking sector and sold my interests, for sharing files with debt capital market investment banking clients.

Price is very reasonable at less than £20 a month and you can add additional storage too. It also integrates well with One Drive.

Worth considering if you want something a little more sophisticated than FTP.

One downside is that you can't take complete control of the domain name. When you share, the url will look something like this:

your_company_name.onmicrosoft.com



HTH,

Chris

 

[martyp87]

Unfortunately, a PC used as a server in my home office won't work as my home internet is pretty slow (5Mb down, 0.7Mb up) so I really need a dedicated server somewhere else.

I took a look into SharePoint online although, it seems to incorporate more with office than hosting various random files (mainly being QuickTime VR .mov files, PDF, JPG and AutoCAD files). Unless I am mistaken or missed something, as it does look a nice system...

If I can get a dedicated server for less than £50 per month with 20Gb+ / 40Gb bandwidth I will be very happy!

 

[MancMike]

Why do you think you need a dedicated server? That's like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut when you're only going to be uploading and downloading files via one service.

Also, 40GB bandwidth, I'd struggle to find even cheap shared hosting that offers less to be honest...

 

[Deleted96908]

I took a look into SharePoint online although, it seems to incorporate more with office than hosting various random files (mainly being QuickTime VR .mov files, PDF, JPG and AutoCAD files). Unless I am mistaken or missed something, as it does look a nice system...

Yes it does integrate with Office and has some great tools - especially live preview of Office docs and near real time search of all docs stored on the system. It's not limited to Office docs though and you can install file handlers for DWG files, PDF and so on. From my experience SP is head and shoulders above any other cloud based business support system currently on offer. That's not to say it's perfect. It can be complicated to use, but once past the learning curve, the rewards are there, especially for your clients, who'll, in my opinion, appreciate the enterprise facilities on offer. For example, each of our clients has a dedicated sub site on our SP facility, complete with all the documents pertinent to our mutual relationship. Current and historical orders, email, docs (including videos with preview) and so on.

Best thing to do if you have time is to sign up for the trial and give it a go.