The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is defined by a series of Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) specifications, with the primary specifications being RFC 959 and RFC 3659.
It was originally written by Abhay Bhushan and published as RFC 114 on April 16, 1971, making it one of the oldest protocols used on the Internet today.