Internet Protocols and Transferring Files?

[Tony]

I actually have a few questions.

1. I want to transfer a full movie from my computer in the living room, to my Macbook in the bedroom using my Macbook. What protocols are available for this and which is best that I use? Would this be any better/faster than copying/pasting the file via finder from the network tab/using the home group?

2. I was on a webpage and I clicked a link to open a doc. I did not first notice since it was done at the browser level but this particular website used FTP. Noticeable because the url bar had FTP at the beginning. Why would they do this? Why would they use FTP instead of using HTTP.

Difference between FTP and SSH?

And also, when I use my Mac to open files from my computer in the living room, my Mac always refers to my computer in the living room as a server. Why is this?

[Fred]

ANY machine with shared files or printers is a server. FTP and ssh are totally different items. SSH is secure shell for remote login. It encrypts the connection so nothing passed across the connection is readable by anyone monitoring the network. NOTHING to do with file transfer. FTP is file transfer protocol purely designed for transferring files to or from the server. Useless to you fr pulling files from a PC, unless you install server software on it. The fastest transfer you can hope for is straight network copying.