What are FTP, SFTP & SMB connections?

[JayJ]

Okay so for all my Android knowledge my PC knowledge it's lackluster, I'm not an idiot but I missed a big chuck of the rise of the PC and some things I just don't know.
I use Solid Explorer beta on both my S2 and Nexus 7, in the settings are FTP, SFTP and SMB connection options so what are they and how are they used?

I'm guessing these are some kind of network streaming connections, I don't have a server which I believe one is used for but I do intend on getting a network HDD at some point so could I use one of these with that?

TIA

[birdastrompgman]

FTP & SFTP are file transfer protocol and secure file transfer protocol, respectively. Think of them as password protected ways to gain access to your website on a shared (ISP) server, white preventing others from hacking your website.

[S.Prime]

SMB, which stands for Server Message Block, is a protocol for sharing files, printers, serial ports, and communications abstractions such as named pipes and mail slots between computers and is basically a client server, request-response protocol. SMB can run over multiple protocols like TCP/IP, NetBEUI or IPX/SPX and has been around since 1985.

[JayJ]

Thanks for the replies guys, think allot of that was over my head tbh...not something I'm going to use though I think.