Apache Friends Support Forum

What is the difference, if you please, between filezilla server versus filezilla client? I need to upload my site from my local host (xampp) to my new remote one. I'm having trouble following the directions I have been given to ftp, and I'm told a reason might be that I have filezilla server and need to dl filezilla client. I would like to verify that this is true. Also, I would like to figure out whether I have an ftp program on my computer before downloading one. Any way I can know? Any help is appreciated!

Hello Julie.

gpeppers wrote:What is the difference, if you please, between filezilla server versus filezilla client?

Think in similar terms of Apache being a web page server and your browser, for example Internet Explorer, being a web page client.

gpeppers wrote:I need to upload my site from my local host (xampp) to my new remote one.

True, you will need to download and install an ftp client like FileZilla Client for Windows from here:
http://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=client
I can recommend FileZilla Client as I use it all the time and it's free and open source.

gpeppers wrote:Also, I would like to figure out whether I have an ftp program on my computer before downloading one.

Sorry can't help with that but most web browsers can be used as an ftp client although in a limited capacity and often quite clunky, clumsy and awkward to operate especially when entering user/password information, but it seems that newer browser's are getting better at uploading as well as downloading files - I think in terms of a web browser only as a web page client and use a dedicated ftp (file transfer protocol) client for transferring files between my computer and a remote web server (I have many in use at this time) in any direction safely and often more securely (SFTP).

If it helps understand about using your browser as an ftp client (not recommended) then Google for
using a web browser for ftp
and see what come up.


BTW, FileZilla Server in XAMPP is not often used because XAMPP is recommended mainly for developing rather than in a live production environment but most developers would use an ftp client like FileZilla Client to transfer their developed web pages in XAMPP to their remote live hosted web servers.

Good luck and best wishes.