GridFTP is a high-performance, secure, reliable data transfer protocol optimized for high-bandwidth wide-area networks. It is based upon the Internet FTP protocol, and it implements extensions for high-performance operation. GridFTP uses basic Grid security on both control (command) and data channels. Other features include multiple data channels for parallel transfers, partial file transfers, third-party (direct server-to-server) transfers, reusable data channels, and command pipelining. http://www.globus.org/grid_software/data/gridftp.php