The program has been updated today which gave me the perfect incentive to review it here on Ghacks Technology News.

Cyberduck is an open source file transfer software that is available for Windows PCs and Apple Macintosh systems. It supports a wide variety of different protocols and even connects perfectly to several popular online services and cloud space providers. The program supports both ftp and sftp connections as well as WebDAV. In addition, it supports connections to Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Windows Azure, Rackspace, Cloud Files and Google Docs.

The program displays all previously configured account in the main interface on startup. You can double-click on an account to connect to the service right away, edit existing accounts or create new ones. If you start the program for the first time, you are likely starting to add accounts first.

Just click on the plus icon in the main interface to add a new account to the program. Everything is configured in the first window that pops up. You select the desired protocol or service from the pulldown menu at the top, assign a custom name for the connection, add the server IP or hostname and username to the listing.

A click on More Options displays additional parameters that can be configured. You can assign a path, connection mode, encoding, the local folder and additional information. You will be asked for a password once you initiate the connection. The password can be saved if needed.

One of the features that WinSCP offers that Cyberduck lacks on first sight is a second file browser to transfer files more easily between the online or network storage and the local system. It is however possible to open multiple windows and drag and drop files or folders between windows. Server to server transfers, if supported by the servers, are now supported by the file transfer software.

Cyberduck offers many features that may not be apparent right away. Among the features are file synchronization options, Growl support, server access history, advanced SSH features, and interoperability.

Windows and Mac users can download the latest version of the software from the official website. The software will ask for a donation on close which you can simply close.

Virtual Private Networks (VPN):

There are two virtual platform versions provided in VPN, the Gateway based and Client based. These platforms can be initiated from the web browsers such as the Internet Explorer version 7 or Firefox version 3 and higher. There are a few glitches with the newest and oldest versions supporting the functions of VPN interface efficiently. A Virtual Private Network establishes a connection between the entire corporate network and the cloud network. This type of connection is useful when there is a mixed pool of public and private cloud applications. Once the connection between the networks is established it then requires mapping the network drives of the server using the inside IP address. The mapping not only assists in making file transfers at a faster rate but also assists in making the necessary changes whenever required in the file system. The most popular VPN is the Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client. It is a great platform which can easily set up the connection between the networks for safe and fast file transfer.

Remote Desktop Connection (RDC):

This establishes connection with the remote cloud servers directly from the desktop of the computer. RDC is used most often for the Windows Virtual Server and needs the connection port-3389 to be connected to the web network. Once RDC has been set up on the computer, the server desktop will be displayed on the window of your computer and this can be used as a virtual interface to manipulate and alter the commands to effectively manage the server remotely. RDC for virtual cloud networks is similar to the Remote Connection between the physical servers used for the local network connections, so interfacing with it can be easy for those who use the Windows Remote Desktop connection for establishing a connection between physical servers in their enterprise.

Secured Shell (SSH):

Secured Shell functions similar to the RDC but it only uses the Linux based Virtual Server. It also requires a few console based commands which are used to start the database or web servers or setting up new file shares. This method requires that the appropriate ports to be connected to the cloud server.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP):

This is the best method for bulk and easy file transfer for activities like loading the data base or developing a new website. For this method it is required to connect the ports 20 and 21 appropriately so that it points to the outside IP address of the server. Once the connection is correctly established, a FTP virtual platform can be installed on the desktop or the FTP command can be easily run directly from the server. This platform will enable efficient bulk file transfer from the file resource to the cloud server.
Using a cloud server can make your life much easier, especially with the knowledge above.

FTP Rush’s feature set looks fairly similar to that of WinSCP on first glance, but it quickly becomes obvious that the ftp client tops WinSCP in several areas.

When you look at the supported protocols, you will notice that FTP Rush lacks SCP support but offers FTPS and TFTP support instead. Plus, it can be used to transfer files from one ftp server to another. This is commonly referred to as FXP.

FXP can be very handy when you move a website to another server, as you do not have to download the files to your local PC before you upload them to the new server.

The interface is highly customizable. You can move toolbars around and enable or disable most of the modules or data entries that are shown. The default interface looks like a mix of the Office 2003 and Windows XP interface, which may not be to everyone’s liking. But this can be quickly changed in the program options.

A quick connection toolbar is displayed on top which you can use to connect to a host right away. All you need to do is to enter the hostname of the ftp server, and optionally the server’s port and a legit username and password. FTP Rush supports simultaneous connections to multiple ftp servers. All connections are displayed in tabs in the main interface.

You can switch servers around easily, even if they are opened in different tabs. The usual information are displayed once the ftp client has established a connection with the selected ftp server. You find folders and files, sizes, dates and attributes listed in a directory like structure.

A right-click or the buttons on top of the ftp server are used to work with the server. You can transfer files, created, delete or edit directories or files or change chmod attributes.

One interesting feature are conditional transfers. You can use the feature to include only select folders and files of the selected files and folders in the transfer. Basic options include filtering files by file extensions, like html, php or pdf, and advanced options to transfer files based on regular expressions, size or date.

The site manager, accessible via the Tools menu, can be used to add servers permanently to the program, so that they can be opened directly on future visits. This is especially handy if the servers require custom configuration.

You can open those servers from the main interface after configuration.

The Tools menu offers access to other features. You can compare directories here, change layout and menus or access the hotkey manager. Many functions of the program are accessible via hotkeys which can speed up the workflow further.

FTP Rush creates connection, transfer and system logs automatically which can be used for troubleshooting and as a history.

Remote folder are automatically cached to speed up the directory browsing on the remote server.

The free ftp client FTP Rush offers everything that you’d expect from a professional grade ftp client plus some that you may not expect but will find handy at times.

If you are looking for a new software to connect to ftp servers, then this should be at the top of your list.

FTP Rush supports all 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system.

While it is possible to initiate those ftp transfers manually, it is often easier to use a software like One Click FTP to transfer files from one local directory to the ftp server with the click of the mouse.

One Click FTP basically allows the creation of ftp profiles, that link local directories and remote directories on ftp servers with each other, so that files can be transferred easily with a few clicks whenever it is necessary to transfer files.

one click ftp

Transfer in this regards means to upload or download files to or from the ftp server.

Configuration of profiles is a one time process, in which the ftp server login credentials, and the local and remote base directories need to be selected. It is then up to the user of the program to select all or only some files and folders for the transfers.

Each file and folder of the local directory can be linked to a folder in the remote directory. It is furthermore possible to configure the program to only process files that are newer than the lost modified date, or that have a different file size. Those settings ensure that only the files that have been modified are transferred, which should reduce the total transfer time of the files noticeably.

One Click FTP offers to transfer files to or from a ftp server in just two clicks, considering that the program needs to be opened first, before the download or upload processes can be started.

The ftp software can be very useful for web developers and other users who regularly download or upload files from the same ftp server.

It is however a big unfortunate that One Click FTP is not supporting the more secure SFTP or SCP in addition to FTP.

Interested users can download the ftp app from the project homepage at Sourceforge. The Open Source tool is available in German and English, and compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems.

They then upload the changed files to the web server so that the new contents are shown and delivered to everyone. But there are also times where it is necessary to update a local folder whenever files and folders change on a ftp server.

This can for instance be the case when multiple web developers work on the same project from different locations.

FTP Synchronize is a lightweight software program for the Windows operating system that automates the process by automatically syncing data of a ftp server with a local directory.

The program is easy to use and requires little configuration. A click on the Settings link opens the configuration screen where the ftp server details (host, username and password) need to be entered. The target folder can be specified by browsing the local computer system.

Options to automatically delete files from the target folder, to check for updates and to restore from tray in case files where updated are checked and can be unchecked if they are not wanted or needed.

The program will display a list of files that have been modified on the ftp server if the user clicks on the system tray icon.

FTP Synchronize if a free software program for the Windows operating system. Webmasters and users who want to synchronize a local folder with a ftp server can take a look at the ftp sync software FTP Sync instead.

WinSCP provides access to file operations such as copying or moving files, editing files directly in the interface, creating folders, renaming files and folders and change a file’s or folder’s properties including chmod.

WinSCP 4.2.7 is a bug fix release that fixes four issues encountered in previous versions of the Windows software program.

• Increased maximal size of accepted SFTP packet.
• Bug fix: Failure when closing connection after another failed connection.
• Bug fix: Root path was not remembered as last working path on a drive.
• Bug fix: Hang-up after closing connection

The new version of WinSCP is provided as a download directly on the developer’s website. The program is portable and compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

FTP Mail Zipper offers another possibility. It combines as the name suggest capabilities to zip, ftp and mail files. It can automatically zip files that are added to its interface and upload them to a ftp server. The information to download the files from the ftp server are then added to the email that is send to the recipient.

Some settings have to be configured during the first startup. This includes adding at least one ftp with account information to the program. FTP Mail Zipper supports ftp profiles which make it possible to switch quickly between different ftps.

It is furthermore possible to use an email template which will then be used automatically when sending the email to the recipient. The application has also an option to list the hosted files that have already been uploaded to ftp servers with the option to delete, rename or download those files.

FTP Mail Zipper is a handy portable software program for the Windows operating system. It is compatible with most versions of the Windows operating system and can be downloaded from the Freeware Files website.

Gftp has a very user-friendly interface that any user can understand without having to look at much documentation at all. The only downfall to Gftp is that it hasn’t been updated since 1/11/2008. Let’s take a look at this single-minded application.

Features

Gftp offers the user the following features:

• Supports FTP,  FTPS (Control Connection), HTTP, HTTPS, SSH, and FSH protocols.
• Supports FTP and HTTP proxy servers.
• Supports FXP.
• Bookmarks allow quick access to remote connections.
• Logging.
• Cache clearing.
• Remote chmod tool.
• Remote directory creation.
• Internationalization (numerous translations available).

Getting and installing

Installing Gftp is simple if you follow these steps:

1. Open your Add/Remove Software tool.
2. Search for “gftp” (no quotes).
3. Mark the Gftp entry for installation.
4. Click Apply to install.

You can also install Gftp from the command line by issuing a command similar to:

sudo apt-get install gftp

Once installed you will find the Gftp entry in the Internet sub-menu of your Applications menu.

The interface

Figure 1

The interface for Gftp is as simple as it gets. As you can see (in Figure 1) the interface is a dual pane window that allows easy dragging and dropping of files from the local machine to the remote machine.

As you can see I have connected to an FTP server on my local LAN. To make the connection you simply enter the following information:

• Host: The address of the FTP server.
• Port: The port used for FTP on the host (if it is a standard port leave it blank).
• User: The username you need to connect.
• Password: The password used for the remote machine.

Once you have entered the information, click the Enter key to connect.

To move a file from one site to another you can do one of four things:

• Drag and drop the file or directory you want to transfer.
• Double click the file or directory you want to transfer.
• Select the file or directory and click the arrow button that points to the machine you want to transfer to.
• Select the file or directory and click Control-P.

Quick compare

Figure 2

One of the features I often use with Gftp is the Compare Windows tool. What this tool does is quickly compare the file listing on both the remote and the local sites and highlight all the files on the directory that are similar. This is a quick and easy way to know what you have already transferred to keep you from accidentally overwriting files.

To use this tool make sure you are connected to the remote site of your choice and then click on the Tools menu and select “Compare Windows”. After you click the tool you will instantly see the files that are similar are Not selected on both panes (see Figure 2). Say you need to send all the files on your current working local directory that have not already been copied to the remote site. To do this click Compare Windows and then just click right facing arrow to copy all files not already on the remote site. Easy file transfer.

Final thoughts

Gftp makes transferring files as simple as it gets in Linux. Of course you could always opt to use the the ftp command line to for a more bare-bones simplicity. But when you have an easy to user GUI interface, why bother with the command line. Right?

The aim of this article is to show you how to quickly set up an ftp server for user access and anonymous access on your Linux server.

Installing

Installing proftpd is simple. If you are in a gui environment, open up your Add/Remove Software utility, do a search for proftpd, select the resulting proftpd entry, and apply the changes. If you are not in a gui environment you can issue a command similar to:

sudo apt-get install proftpd

or

yum install proftpd

To install the tool.

Configuration

The configuration file for proftpd is /etc/proftpd.conf. The first portion of the configuration file is dedicated to the main configuration options. If you are setting up a basic ftp server the only thing you may want to edit in this section is the ServerAdmin email address. In this same section you can switch the server from a stand-alone server (default) to an inetd-based by uncommenting the type you want and commenting out the type you don’t want.

Interestingly enough, once installed, by default you will have user-level ftp access by just starting the proftpd daemon. To do this issue the command:

/etc/rc.d/init.d/proftpd start

or

/etc/init.d/proftpd start

depending upon your distribution.

When your users log into their ftp account they will default to their home directory and can not navigate above their ~/ directory.

Anonymous access

Now if you want to add anonymous ftp access you have to visit another section of the /etc/proftpd.conf file. If you scroll down to around line 104 of this file you will see the opening anonymous tag “<Anonymous>”. Everything between this tag and the closing tag, “</Anonymous>” refers to anonymous configuration.

By default all of the anonymous configuration is commented out. To create a simple anonymous ftp server setup you will want to uncomment out the following lines:

< Anonymous >
User                          ftp
Group                         ftp
AccessGrantMsg                "Anonymous login ok, restrictions apply."
UserAlias                     anonymous ftp
MaxClients                    10 "Sorry, max %m users -- try again later"
DefaultChdir                  /pub
< /Anonymous >

NOTE: There will be no spaces in the opening and closing tags.

Once you uncomment out them, restart the proftpd server and anonymous access will have been granted to users. When anonymous users log in to the server they will be confined to the /var/ftp directory (although to the user it will appear as “/”). Anonymous users will have access to two directories: pub and uploads. The pub directory is where anonymous users can download files and the uploads directory is where anonymous users can upload files.

Final Thoughts

Proftpd is one of the easiest ftp servers to get up and running. It is safe, reliable, and allows simple configuration for anonymous access. If you are looking for an ftp server that requires little hardware, can be deployed quickly, and will “just work” then proftpd is the logical choice.

Home FTP Server is just one of many ftp server applications (read FTP Server Setup). It does come with a full set of features but it takes only a few clicks to have a basic ftp server up and running. The ftp server program uses a tabbed interface at the bottom for configuration and monitoring of the ftp server. The most important tab setup wise is the FTP Server tab which offers possibilities to add user accounts, specify directories, change settings of the ftp server and activate it in the end.

There are basically two ways users can connect to a ftp server by default. The first is an anonymous connection. This can be used by anyone and security minded administrators should disable that feature. The accessible directories and file rights can be defined for anonymous users in the settings. More important than anonymous users are member accounts. Each member account can be added for a single user or group of users who all share the same starting directory, access rights and restrictions on the ftp server.

It is for example possible to only allow the users to download files from the ftp server. The most secure setting is to create one user account for every user that should be able to connect to the ftp server. This can be problematic if you want to install an ftp server for dozens of users.

The settings manage every aspect of the ftp server from server and data port to Open SSL support, domain aliases and a web interface. The options of the Home Ftp Server application are quite extensive. Users can be banned from accessing the ftp server and the tool provides the ftp server administrator with the means to monitor files and users easily.

Home FTP Server is an easy to install and administrate ftp server for private usage. The administrative interface is a bit dusty but that’s not as important as the amount of options and settings available to the user. The ftp server application has a size of only 1 Megabyte and uses another two of computer memory while running minimized in the Windows System Tray.

Any Client is one of those secure ftp clients that supports the ftp, sftp, webdav and ftps protocol. It runs remotely using Java and webmasters can use it to connect to their web servers to perform all the operations a ftp client offers them including file transfers and manipulations. The use of protocols that use encryption such as sftp or ftps ensure data safety during transfer. All settings and parameters are stored on the local computer system.

Cautious users might want to consider installing a secure ftp server directly on their web server that can be accessed using a web browser to avoid any security risks or complications that exist while trusting third party websites with your ftp data.

Any Client will load the Java Applet in the web browser and display the contents of the local computer system on the left. A click on the Connect button will open a new smaller window allowing the user to configure and add ftp servers. The ftp client configuration menu contains similar options than local ftp clients offer. Users can add and store multiple ftp servers, select the protocol, add sftp / ssh authentication and specify a starting local and remote directory.

The only difference is the absence of options that configure the ftp client itself, for example the number of simultaneous connections or file transfer limitations.

Once the ftp server has been added the ftp client can be used to connect to it. Users can now download, edit, rename or delete files while connected to the ftp server. A feature that is missing is chmod which can be used to configure access rights for files.

Any Client offers a quick and easy way to connect to ftp servers. It provides access to the basic feature set of ftp clients but lacks several advanced features that webmasters might need every now and then. Security sensitive users and those with important data on their servers might want to consider using a self hosted ftp server script instead of a third party service to reduce the security risks.

Update: the service seems to have been discontinued.

An alternative to connecting to remote ftp servers with ftp programs is to mount the ftp server as a local drive on the computer system. NetDrive provides the means to do that.

The software comes with a clean interface that has several popular ftp servers preinstalled. New servers can be added by providing the IP, port, username, password and drive letter for that connection. There is also a setting to define when the ftp server or webdav server should be added as a drive letter. The options are to do that when the system starts or when NetDrive starts.

Once the remote ftp has been mounted it is possible to access the ftp like any other drive letter in Windows. It essentially means that no ftp software is needed to connect to the ftp server and that programs like Windows Explorer or equivalents can be used instead.

Setting up an ftp server is actually not complicated at all. The process can be broken down in the following parts: Downloading the ftp server software, installing the software, configuring the ftp server and starting it. The biggest part will be the ftp server configuration where the ftp server admin has to share directories and add user accounts to the system.

Filezilla Server is an Open Source ftp server that can be used to setup a ftp server in Windows. A good advise would be to use the default parameters that are shown during ftp server setup. If you have followed the advice you should see a small window after installation that’s called Connect To Server. A click on OK should connect to the ftp server interface as an administrator.

FileZilla uses User Accounts and Groups to determine access rights of the ftp server. Groups can be used to configure settings for multiple users which are simply assigned to a group. The only thing that has to be done to get the ftp server up and running is to add at least one user account to the server.

This is done by clicking on Edit > Users in the top menu.

The first step is to click on the Add button on the right beneath users. Pick any username and leave the group setting as is.

The new user should now appear in the Users pane on the right side. Now check the Password box and enter a password for that user. You cannot leave that box empty unless you set the username to anonymous.

Now that we have created a first user and assigned a password to that user we need to setup the access rights for that user. A click on Shared Folders loads the menu where the ftp server administrator can enable access to local drives for the selected user.

A click on the Add button beneath Shared Folders will open the file browser in Windows. The first directory will be the Home directory of the user. The access rights are displayed on the right. The user can by default only download (read) files and list directories. If you want to enable file uploads you should create a specific directory for that purpose and set the access flags accordingly (write and create).

If you want to provide access to different hard drives you need to enable so called aliases. The ftp server will always display the home directory to the connected user with no option to switch to another drive.

The only way to provide access to multiple partitions and drives on the ftp server is to create aliases. They basically tell the ftp server to create an alias directory in the home directory that will point to the other partition or drive.

This can be done by right-clicking a folder that has been added to the shared folder list and selecting Edit Aliases from the menu. Now enter the full path of the alias directory. If your home ftp directory is located in d:\ and you want to add f:\ as another shared folder you need to pick an alias that uses the path d:\aliasfolder, for example d:\fshare. When a user connects to the ftp he will see the contents of drive d and the alias folder fshare in the directory structure that will display the contents of the f drive.

And that’s it. Congratulations, you setup an ftp server in a few minutes. The settings can be used to change various aspects of the server, including:

• Banning IP addresses
• Enabling logging
• Setting global speed limits
• Enabling compression
• Enabling SSL
• Setting a welcome message

Setting up a ftp server is not complicated. The most important security aspect is to always update the ftp server to the latest version and only enable the ftp server when needed.

So I decided something along the lines of what Martin does each week with his Software Updates, a compilation of the best tips I see around the blogosphere and some links to the original sources.

Make SP1 Permanent

I never knew of this till I found out on Life Rocks! 2.0 that there’s a file which you can use to make the Vista Service Pack 1 permanent. It’s useful once you’re confident everything it working fine as it cleans up the installation folders and files.

Restore ‘Search’ to Folder Context Menus

Thanks to some badgering from Google Microsoft removed the direct access to Search from the start menu and context menus. If you used these then the How-to Geek provides a registry hack to get it back.

5 Google Reader tips for Bloggers

gHacks author Daniel’s personal productivity blog, Hack Your Day, had a great article on how to use Google Reader efficiently. Always interesting and useful I recommend giving him a read.

FireFTP

As I have just re-installed Vista and my net is crippled to less then dial-up speed at the moment I haven’t been able to download FileZilla. After seeing it featured on the FF extensions page I decided to give FireFTP a try and have been impressed so far.

The main features that make it stand out are tabbed browsing, synchronization and the duplicate finder. Tabbed browsing is definitely the easiest to explain. Two panes are by default displayed like in any other file manager. If I wanted to open another local or remote directory I would have to open a new WinSCP instance. Capivara makes use of tabs to avoid that several instances of the same application have to be opened.

A right-click on a tab opens a menu with the option to add another tab to that pane which can connect to local or remote servers. Synchronization is the next feature. As I said earlier this is also supported by WinSCP and many other clients but Capivara supports four different modes including SHA-1 and MD5 sync.

Before files are copied and deleted they are shown in a preview pane which displays all file operations. The last feature is the duplicate finder. It compares the files and folders that reside in two root directories giving the user the options to move or delete duplicate files.

Capivara has some shortcomings though. The local file system will only be displayed if the user presses the connect button and selects it from the menu. That’s a bit complicated in my opinion. The right-click menu is not working everywhere. A user has to press a button to create a new directory while most are probably used to right-click the mouse to do so.

An online ftp client like Any Client would have come in handy at that time. It completely loads in the browser – providing that Java is installed – and offers a basic ftp interface and connection options. Any Client has the typical ftp client layout, the left side is showing your files while the right one loads the remote directory of the ftp that you connect to.

Speaking of connecting to the ftp. It is naturally inevitable that you have to add the IP, username and password to the client which could be a security concern. SFTP and SSH are supported as well. The sites that you add are saved locally on your computer.

Resuming uploads and downloads is supported as well as creating directories and renaming files and folders. Editing files however is not possible which means that you have to download a file first, edit it and upload it again if you want to make changes to your website.

Navigating the client feels a bit sluggish as well. The thing that’s missing the most at the moment is the missing feature to edit common file types.

RightLoad has several features with which it conquered a solid place in the applications that I use daily. Besides being able to set predefined directories on multiple ftps it can save the login information for those ftp sites which in turn can be protected by a master password to enhance security.

It is also possible to auto-create thumbnails if you do upload images. The user can set the maximum width and heights of the thumbnail and choose if he wants to be asked whenever an image is uploaded or if thumbnails should be generated automatically.

Links can be automatically generated if so desired, most of the time they are needed anyway when writing the article. Seems to have some problems with Windows Vista but should run fine in Windows XP and Windows 2000.

Read More:

RightLoad
via Freeware Genius

Filezilla comes with all the options and settings that one would expect from ftp software: It supports ssl and sftp connections, offers proxy support, upload and download queues, a comfortable site manager with import and export function, resume feature, keep alive system and custom commands.

It is furthermore possible to export and import sites which is a great feature if you have to use the ftp client on more than one computers. I was not able to spot any difficulties with this release candidate; If you want to be on the same side download Filezilla 2 instead.

I can then copy files from and to my dedicated server using this secure connection. I upload new websites this way or download mysql backups or other files that i want to store locally. Well, today version 4 of WinSCP was released as a beta. The main additions are ftp support (remember it supported SFTP before only) and SSH tunnel support. The later feature is not that important for me but the first is really nice.

The changelog for WinSCP 4.0 beta lists a lot of bug fixes and changes that would be to much to list here at my site. Just take a look at the changelog at the official site if this is really interesting for you.

What do you use to connect to a dedicated server ? Remember that I’m still using Windows mainly which limits the choice of programs that I could use.

Private mode means that only trusted users that have been added by you can access the file server. You will have to change the settings from easy mode to expert to be able to create accounts for those users. Once that is done you access the user management by clicking on Menu -> Other Options -> User Accounts. Once you have created at least one user account you right click on files or folders that you have added to your file server and select restrict access and choose the username(s) that you have just created.

Another possibility would be to protect the folders and files directly without using user accounts. You have to assign a username and password to the file or folder and every user that tries to access it will be asked for this data.

HTTP File Server is highly configurable: You can set connection limits, speed limits and ban IPs from accessing your server.

This tool is great if you need to exchange files fast and have no time to setup something else. Alternatives would be to use an ftp client like FileZilla or a local Apache server with htaccess. Another option that I personally do not like that much is use file hosts to share files. I never liked the idea to send my sensible files to a third party. It does not really matter if it is encrypted or password protected or not, call me paranoid, hehe.