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SFTP and FTP, server to server

Server-to-server file transfers, without the round trip through your disk

Most file clients put your PC on one side and a server on the other, so moving files between two servers means downloading them, waiting, and uploading them again. RemoteAccessApp copies straight from one SFTP or FTP server to another: each file is read from one and written to the other at the same time, with nothing saved to your disk.

Send the same files to many servers at once, resume after a dropped connection, and verify every copy. Free for 5 saved hosts.

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  • No temporary copy
  • Upload to many servers
  • Resume and verify

How a server-to-server copy works

A transfer tab has two sides, and each can be This PC, a saved SFTP, SSH or FTP host, or (with Pro) one of your online PCs. Pick files on one side and copy or move them across. Several files copy at once, each over its own pair of connections, and you choose how many with At once. The help article on copying files between two servers covers every option in the tab.

Each server signs in with its own saved password or key. Neither server is given the other's details, and they never connect to each other, so a server in a locked-down network can still send to one in the cloud, as long as your PC can reach both.

The data passes through the PC running RemoteAccessApp, in memory only. Your PC's connection is what limits the speed, so for big jobs run it on a PC with a fast, steady connection. If the files are going between your own PCs rather than servers, here's how to send large files between your PCs without cloud storage.

Why it's faster than download, then upload

The usual way

  1. Download every file from server A to your PC.
  2. Wait for the whole download to finish.
  3. Upload the same files to server B.
  4. Repeat the upload for every other server.
  5. Delete the temporary copies from your disk.

With RemoteAccessApp

  1. Pick server A and server B in a transfer tab.
  2. Copy: each file is written to B while it's still being read from A.
  3. Or upload to every server you tick at once.
  4. Nothing to clean up: no temporary files on your PC.

The upload starts with the first bytes of the download instead of after the last, several files move in parallel, and there's no disk in the middle. It's the same data over your connection, without the waiting.

Upload to many servers at once

Upload to servers… (Ctrl+Shift+U in a file pane, or on the Files page) sends the same files, from this PC or from one server, to every server you tick: open SFTP and FTP panes at the folder they show, or saved hosts with a folder for each. With more than one server you see the whole list to confirm before anything is written, and each server gets its own progress card, so one slow or failing server doesn't hold up the rest.

Built not to leave a mess

  • No half files

    Each file is written under a temporary name and renamed into place only once its size matches, keeping the original's modified time and permissions.

  • Retries and resume

    A dropped connection is retried automatically, three times over about two minutes. On SFTP the copy continues where it stopped, after checking the last megabyte already copied.

  • Verify

    Compare SHA-256 checksums of the original and the copy where both sides can compute them: this PC, and SFTP hosts with sha256sum.

  • Clear choices on clashes

    When a name is taken: Skip, Keep both or Replace, with Do this for the rest of this transfer. Copying a file onto itself is refused.

  • Pause, retry, cancel

    Pause all, Resume all, Retry failed, Clear finished and Cancel all. Closing the tab asks first, and app updates wait until transfers finish.

  • Copy or move whole folders

    Folders copy with everything in them. Move deletes each file from the source only once it's safely copied.

What DevOps teams use it for

  • Deploys: push a release folder from the build server, or your PC, to every web server at once, each into its own path.
  • Backups: copy a database dump or an archive from production straight to a backup server, with Verify on.
  • Migrations: move a site from an old host to a new one with Move, so each file leaves the old server only once it's safely on the new one.
  • Logs and reports: pull logs from several servers onto one box for a closer look, without filling your own disk.
  • Hosts that can't see each other: copy between a server on a private network and one in the cloud, when neither can connect to the other but your PC can reach both.

Our post on how server-to-server file transfers save DevOps time goes through deploys, backups, migrations and log pulls in more detail, and where the time goes with download, then upload.

How to copy files between two servers

  1. Step 1: Save both servers

    In the RemoteAccessApp app on Windows, add each server on the Connections tab as SFTP, SSH or FTP, with its own password or key. The first time, check and trust each server's key. About the SSH and SFTP client.

  2. Step 2: Open a transfer tab

    Click New transfer tab on the Connections tab (or press Ctrl+K and type transfer), right-click a host and choose Transfer to another server…, or choose Open second server in an SFTP or FTP tab.

  3. Step 3: Pick a server on each side

    Choose the source and the destination, and open the folders you want on each.

  4. Step 4: Choose how to copy

    Pick Copy or Move, how many files at once, what to do if a file exists, and tick Verify for a checksum check.

  5. Step 5: Copy and follow it

    Select the files and copy them across. Each file shows its progress; fix any failure and click Retry failed.

Need the details?

The help center has the full reference: copy files between two servers and copy files with SFTP and FTP.

Let an AI assistant do it

With Pro, the MCP Desktop Connection lets Claude Code copy a file or folder from one saved SSH server to another, with the same engine: each server uses its own saved sign-in, only servers whose keys you've already trusted are used, and existing files are left alone unless you say to replace them. About MCP

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