he SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) is a network protocol that provides file access, file transfer, and file management functionalities over secure connection.((Technically ~84b978c24f738eb1542785ec815b9777~ can operate over any reliable data stream, not necessarily a secure one. Though in a significant majority of uses, it operated over a secure SSH protocol. WinSCP in particular does not allow any other use.)) It was designed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as an extension of the Secure Shell protocol (~593039a5887ffaf23130e3883f20f792~) version 2.0 to provide secure file transfer capability.((The text is partially copied from  Wikipedia article on [[wp>SSH_File_Transfer_Protocol|SSH File Transfer Protocol]]. The text is licensed under [[wp>Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License|GNU Free Documentation License]].)) 		
		
n its basic functionality the ~5b85f29fb786c963eca537f121911402~ is similar to an old [[ftp|FTP]], while having better designed advanced functionality. Unfortunately not all SFTP server implementations take advantage of the advanced features, yet. 		
		
specially in its later versions (from 4 upwards), the ~88e26986177a8b0831d068ea1f9050e6~ protocol is more platform independent, compared to both [[ftp|FTP]] and [[scp|SCP]]. 		
		
nlike SCP, for connection with an ~89cedf8e2755444a7158614c9efc2466~ server you do not need access to shell (although some implementations may still require that). 		
		
ee also [[sftp_codes|SFTP status/error codes]].