How to implement editing?

What are the common uses of WebDAV? Why would someone implement that rather than FTP for editing files on a web server?

• Answer:

  WebDAV is a protocol that runs on top of another protocol, HTTP. WebDAV is supported by a wide range of client applications, even Windows Explorer can connect directly to WebDAV shares. WebDAV can be hosted on a Subversion (SVN) versioning system, and served as static files through a web server, automatically versioning changes. This helps a group collaborate without risking destroying other users changes permanently. HTTP/WebDAV can be secured with SSL. WebDAV runs on an HTTP server, which is very easy to control from a security perspective on the network. 1 server port (e.g. TCP 80 or 443), and the standard range of client ports (TCP 1023-65535) FTP is a separate protocol that does not run on top of HTTP. It defines 2 server ports, TCP 21 for the connection, and TCP 20 for the data. However, many FTP clients and servers expect to be able to open new connections on random ports directly from the server, to the client. This is theoretically impossible to secure, and causes great problems for any secure or simple Network Address Translation (NAT), that most personal and corporate networks rely on. FTP is generally faster, and the right client/server configuration can allow for multiple connections to the server from the same client, which can also improve speed dramatically. From a security perspective, FTP is never secure. Other implementations such as S-FTP allow for encrypting the connection. Most users will simply use SCP/SFTP (there is both Secure FTP and S-FTP secure file transfer through SSH) WebDAV is easily secured by using SSL in your http server, and anything from simple authentication to a directory service authentication system such as LDAP or Microsoft Active Directory. On the down side, improperly secured WebDAV servers can cause unauthorized users to have easy access to what is very likely a publicly viewed item such as a corporations web page.