Best FTP server for Windows with Active Directory integration

Question

I'm looking for an FTP server product with Active Directory integration for installation on a Windows server.

I have been looking at different products, but I have a hard time finding a product, which has a decent Active Directory integration. I need something that integrates properly with Active Directory groups and is able to "merge" group memberships. An example:

User A is a member of Group X and Y

• Group X has read access to Directory1 and read access to Directory 2
• Group Y has write access to Directory1 and read access to Directory 3

User A gets a merged permission set consisting of:

• Read/write access to Directory1
• Read access to Directory2
• Read access to Directory3

And sees all 3 directories in his home directory when logging on to the server.

I have been looking at the FTP server built into IIS 6 but to me it seems like the Active Directory integration is on a user basis only. Am I right about this? Tutorials like the one at http://weblogs.asp.net/owscott/archive/2004/02/05/68423.aspx seems to indicate this, though it's not stated explicitly.

Would IIS 7 be a better choice? Other suggestions?

Answer 1

The IIS FTP server should use group integration as well. It's based on NT permissions all the way through.

Answer 2

There are many out there, but I personally favour WS FTP Server, you can choose whether you want to use a AD, Microsoft Access or by configuring users and groups right in the server. It's a piece of cake to set up and is so much more conigurable than the built in FTP in IIS.

Answer 3

I agree with blabster. WS FTP is an awesome piece of software with lots of features. On the other hand, if you dont want to go too crazy with all the un-necessary features then IIS 6 and IIS 7 will do just fine. I've been using them for a while now with no issues, with very high load.

You can look up some info here.

Answer 4

Check out Cerberus FTP Server. I've been using it for years and the Active Directory integration couldn't be simpler to configure.

Cerberus FTP Server

Answer 5

Be careful with using AD credentials and FTP. If the FTP session isn't tunneled over SSL you're going to be sending your username and password in a plaintext format.