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Buffer error when using FTP

 
Hoff
Honored Contributor

Re: Buffer error when using FTP

Welcome to the world of Internet standards and protocols and of RFCs and of de facto standards, and particularly where multiple incompatible and fully standards- or RFC-compliant methods can freely co-exist and (mostly) interoperate.

At its core, these inconsistencies and the "slop" in the various documents are why various vendors have or participate in "connect-a-thons" and such. And this is why an early or a dominant implementation might be incompatible with the standard or with the RFC, and then the other vendors can then choose to comply with the standard or comply with earlier (and buggy) implementations. (There are cases here with Microsoft browsers and ftp and OpenVMS servers won't play well together, if you want a specific citation.)

Welcome to the second-level world of ftp on OpenVMS, where different file transfer sequences can appear; where different record transfer modes can be negotiated depending on the capabilities of the client and the server. Various OpenVMS IP stacks have had longstanding implementation differences with STRU O VMS and VMS PLUS, for instance.

Further, the ftp design itself is from a different era of IP and of Internet networking; it has a number of inherent weaknesses including issues with performance and with firewalls. Not to mention its use of cleartext authentication. (ssh and sftp are better choices here.)

Per a longstanding industry maxim: if some particular product were truly "identical", then it would not be marketed as being "compatible". By accepted industry definition, "compatible" means "different". And ftp is compatible.
The Brit
Honored Contributor

Re: Buffer error when using FTP

Thanks Guys.