About version 1.70
What's new in 1.70?
Features
Upgrading from pervious versions
The current status of 1.70
Support
Other War FTPD sites
Download
In October 1996 I started to work on War FTP Daemon version 2. In December the source code for the alpha (pre-release) version was released, - and I continued to work on the code in order to release a beta. One year after I started on version 2, I decided to discontinue the development. The code was growing too complex, and the design had some major drawbacks. I made some research on a new design, and came up with some brilliant ideas for version 3. The time frame for version 3 was at least one year, so I decided to release a version 1.70, partially based on the design of the original server, and partially on the ideas for version 3. As I worked on 1.70, more and more code was written from scratch, or stolen from version 2 (the design had drawbacks, but after 1 year of development, version 2 indeed had some very useful and well debugged source code modules). Version 1.70 is in fact a bright new server, as almost no source code is left from version 1.66.
You might ask, what are the main changes since 1.66? Well – first of all – the server module and the user interface is split into different programs. The server is written using portable code, code that will soon be ported to Linux/Unix. The user interface is built on top of MFC – providing a state of the art Windows95/98 user interface. Most of the problems reported with previous versions have been related to users having problems figuring out how to configure the server correctly. When I designed the new user interface, I tried to meet the requirements of the most sophisticated user needs, while also making the configuration an easy task for novice users. The server code is also more robust, and has intelligent interpreting/error checking of configuration options. The user interface communicate with the server using ONC RPC (former SUN RPC), which is a well-established platform-independent protocol. The use of ONC RPC makes it possible for the server and the user interface to run on different machines, using different operating systems and even different microprocessor families (Intel/Alpha/Motorola). A Web server running on an enterprise Unix server can easily communicate with the War FTP Daemon, running on an NT server – just to mention one big benefit. The imagination of the users (and the skills of their programmers/software development departments) is the only thing that limits the possibilities with this new design.
The specs of 1.70 looks very much like the specs of version 2 – what's the difference between these versions? The main differences are that 1.70, from the outside, looks more like 1.66 than 2.0. 1.70 also lacks the plugin API interface promised for version 2. On the inside, 1.70 looks very much like version 2.
Ok – the server is very neat, flexible and easy – but to whom is it targeted? The only answer to that question is - to you! The server is scalable, making it the best choice for any FTP server need, no matter if you just want to share files between your work and home PC, or run a large-scale FTP server on Internet. The server is designed to meet any imaginable need's The only drawback for professional use is that the CPU/memory usage is a bit higher than the simplest competitors, such a MS FTP service or wftpd. But hardware is cheap – and this server takes full advantage of multi-CPU hardware for the largest imaginable FTP servers. While 1.66 was developed on a 10mbit network, and is unable to provide much more than 1 MB/sec throughput, 1.70 is developed on a 100mbit network (using a dual Pentium II motherboard on the development PC), and is only limited by the networking hardware in the machine!
When I told my friends that I was going to make a new FTP server, they asked me why? What would I gain? I already made the best FTP server ever written. There was no way I could get better ratings, as version 1.x already had top ratings on all major software sites on the net! To tell you the truth – the only reason for the top-ratings is that the other FTP servers are crap! War FTP daemon 1.x actually sucks, as it have major design drawbacks, serious bugs, and even lack the possibility to access the maintenance display when the server runs as a NT service! When I first started my goal was to make the first decent freeware FTP server for Windows. My goal with 1.70, and later on version 3, is perfection. My goal is not just to make the best FTP server (that's no big deal with today's competitors), - but making the best Internet server ever. That means writing c++ code that is poetry, taking maximum advantage of the hardware where the server is running, and being compatible with all related software, such as FTP clients, operating systems, and administrative tools.
At last – why did 1.70 take so long? Well – there are several reasons. I changed my mind about the scale of the changes. I also had some periods, lasting from weeks to months, where I was unable to do any coding at all due to personal problems. (I was the victim of a false conviction{linkID=100110} back in 1994. Sometimes the rage against the society and the so called 'justice system' is so strong that all I can focus on is figuring out very painful ways to kill judges and police officers.) I also wanted to introduce some new features in 1.70. After almost two years without any major improvements, I needed to take the time to test and debug as much as possible.
What new features can be expected from the War FTP daemon? There are limitations to the FTP protocol. In 1997 I tried to make some suggestions to the FTP working group in regards of the next version of the FTP protocol. I was however pretty much ignored in that forum; something I found strange, as the War FTP daemon is among the most used FTP servers in the world. Anyway, I decided to work on my own server, rather than challenging the egos of people I've never heard about before, and just implement the new FTP specs in the server when (or rather if) they ever reach to a conclusion. War FTP daemon will be 100% compliant with the FTP protocol specification, but I will add my own new features to the protocol, that can be enabled by any FTP clients that support them. Since this server is so widely used, I hope that FTP client writers will take advantage of the extensions I plan, such as the interactive chat protocol, enhanced directory listings, asynchronous response messages, encryption, and enhanced file information options. In the end, it's up to the users do decide what FTP clients, and what features, they want.
From a system operator's point of view, the most significant change is the new user interface. It is not only rewritten (and actually a larger peace of software alone, than all of 1.66), but it is now a stand-alone program that access the server using UDP/IP. This means that you can run the user interface (Daemon Manager) from any Win95/NT machine on your LAN/Intranet/Internet! In other words - True Remote Administration.
When I rewrote the server, I went trough each single feature the server had and tried to improve it. That means that most of the 'old' features are improved. Supplemented with a large number of new features - version 1.70 is probarbly the most sophisticated FTP server ever written.
Personally I hate it when a piece of software comes out in a new major release - and looks different than the 'good old proggie' I'm used to. Learning something new is not on my 'want to do' list - at least not when it means 're-learning' something I already know - just because some freak of a programmer wanted to do something new. I would therefore have liked to keep the old look&feel from 1.66 in 1.70. But with the new design goals and the new features (and also the fact that lot's of users had problems understanding the old look&feel) - I decided to make a new user interface. It looks different - and it works different. I'll try to stick with the new look&feel for a couple of yeras, to prevent people like me from having to learn new stuff all the time :-)
All in all - 1.70 is a new server. It's based on the experience from writing previous versions, and partially based on the source code from (the discontinued) version 2.
Operating system features
Security
The following is a list of features of The FTP Demon 1.70
Compatibility
Design
In order to upgrade from a pre-170 version to 1.70, you must specify upgrade when you run the install program. The user database will then be upgraded so that all user information and passwords is preserved. In some cases you might have to go over the file paths manually.
Some features from 1.66 is still not implemented. These will be implemented as time permits. Currently 4 tasks are in progress:
Note: Bug-reports and suggestions should be posted at the support-site.
Breezin's War FTPD Help and Info page
www.breezin.net/warftpd/
Resource site with information and plugin locations
"members.home.com/nouser/warftpd/
Release date: August 18 1998
Size: 3.5 MB
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