SecureCopy (scp) and Secure FTP (sftp)

cisco24x7 · ‎03-05-2008

I have a Linux host behind a Pix515.

Everything behind the Pix is PATed to the

Pix outside interface:

nat (inside) 1 0 0

global (outside) 1 interface

I have a Solaris 9 on the Internet. I have a 100Mbps connection to the Internet

via the Pix.

When I perform SecureCopy (scp) from the

Linux to the Solaris, upload, I get about

1.5MBps upload, about 12mbps.

When I perform Secure FTP (sFTP) from the

Linux to the Solaris, I get about 1MBps

upload, about 8mbps. I repeated the test

about 20 times with a 100MB file size,

same result.

Why is such the difference between

SFTP and SCP since both the same protocol

which is SSH?

Any ideas? Thanks.

CCIE Security

didyap · ‎03-11-2008

SCP and SFTP both use SSH but SCP is based on RCP and SFTP is based on FTP and so there maybe a slight difference in download speeds achieved using these two.

cisco24x7 · ‎03-11-2008

Are you speculating this or is this fact?

Thanks.