Why does FTP work without the IIS service?

Question

I'm using Windows Server 2008 R2. I just stopped IIS and tried using FTP—it worked! So, is FTP independent from IIS? How does it work if IIS is stopped?

Answer 1

In logical terms the FTP service is part of IIS which is a collection of services hence the name 'Internet Information Services'.

In Windows Server the role is called 'Web Server (IIS)' which is a bit misleading because you can run the ftp service without installing any http related services.

The FTP service runs as its own Windows Service process 'Microsoft FTP Service' (svchost.exe -k ftpsvc)