FTP - File transfer protocol

File tranfer protocol (FTP): Layer 5 (Application Layer)

• used to transfer data from one computer to another over the Internet, or through a network.
• protocol used for exchanging files over any network that supports the Internet protocol.
• Min of two computers are involved in FTP transfer: server and client
  
  FTP server listens on the network for requests from clients,making use of FTP server software.
  
  FTP client, send requests to the servers and initiates a connection.
  
• Once connected, the client can do a number of file manipulation operations such as uploading files to the server, download files from the server, rename or delete files on the server and so on.
• Anyone can create a FTP
• Almost all computer platform support the FTP protocol. This allows any computer connected to a TCP/IP based network to manipulate files on another computer on that network regardless of OS involved

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ftp