ExpanDrive: Seamless FTP
I don’t know about you, but as a web designer I find it quite frustrating when working on a project to have to run a seperate FTP app. How great would it be if you could see all your files and folders on the remote server within Finder?!!
ExpanDrive is a really unique FTP client that does just that by providing a simple, convenient way to access, and edit files on your remote server by mounting it as if it were an external hard drive on your local system.
So lets dive in, and take a look at how it works.
Adding a Server
You can add a server through the “Drive Manager” which is accessible via the ExpanDrive menubar item.
Simply specify the drive type (ExpanDrive currently supports FTP, SFTP, and Amazon S3), server address, username, password, and a nickname is optional.
Mounting a Server
You can mount a server either by clicking it’s name in the menubar interface or by double clicking it’s name in the Drive Manager.
The Drive Manager has a really simple interface, and a useful filter feature that lets you filter through your servers by typing a word or two that relates to them.
The Finder
The Finder works just like you’d expect. You can use features like coverflow and quicklook, and because every server is treated like an external drive, you can even drag files from one server to another.
Drawbacks
After saving a file to a remote server via ExpanDrive, instead of being able to continue working on that file while it uploads in the background, you have to wait a few seconds.
Also navigating through files and folders seems a little slower then other ftp clients I’ve used.
Conclusion
Despite the minor drawbacks, ExpanDrive is still a really useful tool, and well worth getting if you, like me, work with remote files on a regular basis.
It currently costs $39.95, and you can download a free 30 day trial from the developer’s website.
