The Catacomb WebDAV Server

Abstract

Catacomb is a WebDAV repository module for use with the Apache WebDAV module, mod_dav. Apache mod_dav parses WebDAV and DeltaV protocol requests into operations on a repository providing persistent storage of resources and their properties. The default repository for mod_dav is provided by a separate module, mod_dav_fs, which stores resource bodies as files in the filesystem, and stores properties in a (G)DBM database. Catacomb provides a replacement for mod_dav_fs called mod_dav_repos that stores resources and their properties in a relational database using mod_dbd from the apache project for database abstraction. The primary advantage of this approach is the searching capabilities of the database are used to implement the DASL protocol. Additionally, the database allows straightforward implementation of the versioning capabilities of the DeltaV protocol. We will present the current state of development of the catacomb WebDAV server. We also explain the use of catacomb for storing scientific data in the german aerospace center. Finally there will be an outlook of future WebDAV protocol extensions in catacomb and how they will be realized.