FTP to FTP Transfer Directly Without Downloading Files on Local Computer

To transfer files from one host to another, what we generally do is download all files on local computer first and then upload it to another. This is quite slow and laborious task so, why not go for FTP to FTP Transfer directly.

In this process, you waste twice the bandwidth of file size you are transferring and also the time taken for downloading and uploading files one by one (when it is in number of thousands) is quite long.

I tried few software which allowed multiple FTP account adding and transfer files FTP to FTP directly but the truth was that they downloaded first locally.

It is quite helpful while moving your site to another host, taking backup elsewhere or mirroring the website. So, I mention two ways which I use generally to transfer FTP to FTP without downloading on Local Computer.

FTP to FTP Transfer Software

MyBackupBox is a free web tool which I mentioned to take Automated Website Backups to Dropbox can also be used for FTP to FTP transfer.

It consists of two sides. On Left: You have to authorize FTP where files are currently hosted and On Right: Authorize FTP where you want them to be transferred.

You are done. Just press “Transfer Now” and operation will start. You may close the window and notification email will land in mailbox when transferring is done.

FTP to FTP Transfer via Shell (PuTTY)

1. Create a compressed archive of a folder you want to transfer. (GZiped / Tar.GZ is recommended). If you have a cPanel then it can be done by just right clicking on the file as shown in screenshot.
   
2. Archive will now be created in the /publichtml/ folder of your FTP account.
3. Ask for SSH/Shell access Port to the Host provider if you aren’t sure. (For Hostgator, it is 2222)
4. Download and open PuTTY.
5. Enter Host IP and Port and click Open.
   
6. You will be asked to enter password to your FTP account.
7. You have now successfully entered root directory of FTP account.
8. Enter command as wget http://your-site.com/archive.tar.gz
   
   wget is a command to download certain file from remote location.
   your-site.com is a primary domain of Hosting account from where file is to be transferred.
   archive.tar.gz is the file name of compressed archive we created in step 2.
9. You have now transferred the archive file from FTP to another FTP directly.
10. Extract the archive using cPanel option.

I hope this tutorial about FTP to FTP transfer will help you copy or move files directly without downloading and uploading from Local Computer.

Some FTP file transfer software like CuteFTP or CrossFTP promises to do so directly but fails. I wonder why Filezilla doesn’t integrete this feature when it already supports multiple FTP account in tabs.