Several of you wrote in about last week's article on installing an FTP Server. You said "that was great, but you only told half the story". You wanted to know two more things:
How to make the FTP Server available to Internet users
How to secure the FTP Server
There are several ways to make an FTP server on the internal network available to users on the Internet. These methods are referred to as "Server Publishing". You can use a Windows XP computer running Internet Connection Services (ICS) to publish a server on your internal network.
Let's take a look at a common scenario. You have a Windows XP computer connected to the Internet with an always-on cable or DSL connection. You have another computer on your private network also running Windows XP. You've installed the FTP Server on this internal network computer and put files into the FTP folder. Now you want Internet users to connect to the FTP Server through the ICS computer directly connected to the Internet.
You can do this with the Windows XP ICS! Here's how:
Go into the Network Connections window. You can get there from the Network applet in the Control Panel.
Right click the network interface directly connected to the Internet and click Properties.
Click on the Advanced tab in the connection's Properties dialog box. Put a checkmark in the Internet Connection Firewall checkbox. Always make sure the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) is enabled when you connect a computer directly to the Internet.
Click the Settings button, then click on the Services tab in the Advanced Settings dialog box.
Now click the Add button. This brings up the Service Settings dialog box. Type in My FTP Server in the Description of service text box. In the Name or IP address text box, type in the IP address of the computer on your private network that's running the FTP server. Since you're using ICS, it'll have an IP address like 192.168.0.x, where x is different for each machine on your network. You might want to manually assign the IP address the FTP Server already has, so that it doesn't change in the future. You can find out what IP address your FTP server is using by opening a command prompt at the FTP server and typing in the command ipconfig. That will give you the IP address the FTP Server is using. Back to the Service Settings dialog box, select the TCP option button. For the External Port and the Internet port, put in the port number you assigned to the FTP server on your internal network. Read this week's How To section to see how to change the listening port number. Click OK
Click OK, and then click OK one more time! You might need to disable and enable the adapter after making the change. You can do that by right clicking the always-on interface.
The procedure is very similar for dial-up connections. However, there are problems with dial-up connections (and many always-on connections) because the IP address on the external interface of the ICS computer changes over time. Next week I'll share with you a cool way you can get around this problem by using something called a "dynamic DNS service". I've used one for years, and it works great. Make sure to tune in next week for the details.
There you have it. Is server publishing in your future? Have any questions on the method I described above? If so, let me know! There are lots of ways you can publish services. Tell me how you do it, and tricks you've learned along the way. If you're having problems with server publishing, let me know about those too! I'll be sure to include what I learn from you in upcoming newsletters.
Until next week,
Tom Shinder, Editor
(email us with feedback: feedback@winxpnews.com)