| UFTP | |
|---|---|
| Developer | Dennis Bush |
| Initial release | July 6, 2001 |
| Stable release | 5.0.3 / December 17, 2023 |
| Type | File transfer (multicast) |
| License | GPLv3 |
| Website | uftp-multicast |
The UDP-based File Transfer Protocol (UFTP) is a communication protocol designed to transfer files to multiple recipients. [1] To accomplish this, UFTP multicasts the files to recipients via the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The reference implementation of UFTP is open-source software distributed under the GNU General Public License Version 3. [2] The author of UFTP and its reference protocol is Dennis Bush. [3]
UFTP can perform effectively in a wide area network with high network delay, as well as in communication satellite transmissions. [1]
Bush published a pre-release version of UFTP on July 6, 2001. After two more intermediate releases, version 1.0 was published on December 17, 2002. [4] He based UFTP on the Multicast File Transfer Protocol (MFTP), which was designed and developed at Starburst Communications. [5] [6] In 1997 and 1998, Starburst had submitted drafts of the MFTP specification to the Internet Engineering Task Force, with a view to promoting adoption of the protocol. [7] [8] Starburst later sold MFTP, along with their Omnicast file distribution software, to the Fantastic Corporation.[ citation needed ] Stratacache, a digital signage company in the United States, announced in February 2004 that they had purchased the property from Fantastic. [9]