Comparing HTTP and FTP for transferring files

Question

What are the advantages (or limitations) of one over the other for transferring files over the Internet?

(I am aware of secure forms of both protocols. I'd like to hear comparisons through personal experiences in terms of performance, reliability, file size limitations etc.)

Answer 1

Here's a performance comparison of the two. HTTP is more responsive for request-response of small files, but FTP may be better for large files if tuned properly. FTP used to be generally considered faster. FTP requires a control channel and state be maintained besides the TCP state but HTTP does not. There are 6 packet transfers before data starts transferring in FTP but only 4 in HTTP.

I think a properly tuned TCP layer would have more effect on speed than the difference between application layer protocols. The Sun Blueprint Understanding Tuning TCP has details.

Heres another good comparison of individual characteristics of each protocol.