CGI stands for Common Gateway Interface. Simply stated, it means that CGI is a scripting program that runs on the server and executes your instructions that you issue through your web browser via the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The CGI program takes up the instructions, and then, according to how it is programmed, does what it is told, like checking the user ID and password followed by executing your instructions.

Search the net and you will come across many companies offering CGI FTP Hosting facilities. Free CGI FTP Hosting may seem to be a very attractive preposition, but the concept has its limitations. Consider a situation when you want a server with CGI scripts to transfer your FTP files, and are taken in by the free web space or bandwidth that is offered. You do not bother to enquire about the extent of free web space and just accept the offer, only to find later on that you have been trapped into reading long irritating advertisements, allowing spyware and pop-ups in exchange for irregular transfer of your files.

It is therefore imperative to make thorough enquiries about the antecedents of the hosting company before entrusting it with your valuable confidential information. Sometimes the intentions of the hosts may be above suspicion, but quite possibly they may have just entered the trade and are trying to experiment and learn at your expense, and may close the shop if things don’t work well. This will also mean that you unnecessarily part with your confidential data. So you should ask for their telephone numbers—which should preferably be toll free—as well as some references to cross-check the quality and authenticity of their service, the length of their experience in the trade, their customer support and whether they allow you to purchase your own software or force you to buy it from them at their rates.