Plain FTP is no longer supported. Port 21 has been closed, and will not be opened. This is due to the insecure nature of the FTP protocol. Use SFTP instead, see below.
SFTP is the best method for remote file access. Normal FTP uses an insecure method to transmit the password (plain text!). Anyone sniffing your packets between axdf.net and your computer will pick up your password -- this is both a security risk for both you and everyone else on the server.
From a user perspective SFTP works exactly the same was as normal FTP, except a different client is required (one that supports SSL encryption). The encryption itself is handled by the client, and you as a user are insulated from it.
SFTP Clients:
psftp.exe of the
PuTTY
family for a console version.sftp(1). Or use the
PuTTY
family, which includes psftp(1).
Or search for a GUI Equivalent for your window system.If your SFTP client stores your password and you are comfortable with that, then you can have it automatically login for you (to prevent you having to type your password every time). That is okay.
However, if you have a client such as the console version of
sftp running on unix, then you can enable automatic login
by enabling automatic login of ssh (see the
Remote Login (SSH) page).
If you are using Putty's psftp.exe on windows, you need to
enable automatic login
using putty for SSH as well using the pagent.exe program
(see the Remote Login (SSH) page).