If you have a need for a file server, there are actually quite a few different methods to implement it. From a Windows computer, you can simply share a folder and assign the appropriate permissions. You can also install FTP server software to the Windows computer so that files can be uploaded or downloaded through the FTP protocol. There is also third party software such as HFS (HTTP File Server) that uses web technology to share files.

However, if you’re looking for a really solid and yet free file server, you should consider using Linux to achieve this because the operating system is well known to be stable which will save you money in licensing costs. This is why you find that most websites are hosted on Linux because of the stability, and not Windows server.

The only drawback is most of the people who are so used to Windows might find it difficult to handle a Linux operating system because things are very different. However, there is a Linux distro called SME Server that is based on CentOS which is easy to configure and manage. Once you’ve successfully installed SME Server, you can easily manage and configure the server using a web interface.
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You may have heard of FTP before which is the reason why you are currently reading this article. FTP is short for File Transfer Protocol and is used to transfer files between computers. Most of the time when you have a website hosted on a server, you are given a FTP information containing the FTP address, username, password and port number that commonly uses 21. This information is for you to connect to your web server using a FTP client software so you can manage the files on your server by downloading or uploading through a directory tree view.

Other than commonly using FTP for web servers, it can also be used to backup files from a unbootable machine. All you need to do is set up a FTP server on a working Windows computer and then boot up the dead PC with a live rescue CD such as UBCD4Win that comes with a FileZilla FTP client software. You can then establish a connection to the FTP server and start transferring the files.

There are quite a number of free FTP server software and after testing all of them, we will only show you how to setup your FTP server using FileZilla Server because of the popularity and Xlight FTP Server because it comes with UPnP support that your router will automatically forward the port. Another really easy to configure Core FTP mini SFTP server will also be included.
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