basic fileserving can be done without the complexities of samba using apache/webdav combination. very easy to setup and to maintain.

as long as the server supports apache and webdav, no problem. in fact webdav is designed for simple file sharing with basic authentication/authorization which doesn't require fine-grained access control such as the one facilitated by win2k/2k3 domain controllers. inline ssl is supported which makes your file transfer discreet and you firewall admin will only be concerned with port 80. dav uses the port that apache listens on.

before you giggle in excitement, read and understand what GET, POST, PUT, , HEAD, and other HTTP headers will do to your dav-enabled directories. some headers such as PROPFIND, DELETE and others are permutations of any of the 4 core headers. couple this with apache's built-in authentication mechanism, you can work out a basic policy-based file-serving. before you ask whether dav supports print sharing, the answer is no.

apache2 comes with built-in dav module while for 1.3, you have to download and compile the module manually. 2.0 module contains certain hidden advantages over the 1.3.

you certainly do not need samba for basic file-serving. the only reason why dav is not as widely used as it should have been is because of the ubiquity of samba as a replacement for windows-based file sharing.

This post has been edited by ihsan: Mar 2 2005, 03:13 AM