10.3 Services

A few WebDAV-enabled services are available on the Internet. Some charge a monthly fee for usage; however, some are free.

Internet-hosted storage service startups seem to be rather unstable. Several startups have already appeared and disappeared. If the services mentioned here no longer exist, it may still be possible to find newer replacements supporting much the same functionality.

10.3.1 Apple iDisk

Apple's iDisk service is a WebDAV-based service for Macintosh users only, supporting primarily the iTools software utilities. Now that iDisk supports WebDAV in addition to the Apple Filing Protocol, Goliath and other WebDAV clients can use the service. Apple also makes it possible to share and synchronize calendars with iCal using WebDAV.

As with so many other technologies, Apple seems to have done the best job of making online storage hosting user-friendly, judging from user reviews. Mac OS X makes it easier than any other client to encrypt files on the client before storing them on the server thus ensuring user privacy.

User groups and Macintosh special-interest sites have some speculations about Apple's plans for iDisk. Some suggest support for network computers and network booting, where the user's personal information is stored on iDisk rather than on the local device. Others claim that an Apple-designed PDA called iWalk will access files on iDisk with built-in wireless support.

10.3.2 IBackup

Pro Softnet Corporation provides the IBackup service (www.ibackup.com) so that customers can back up important files easily to a remote location. IBackup advertises support for Microsoft Web Folders and other WebDAV client software. It uses SSL by default to provide privacy.

10.3.3 My Docs Online

My Docs Online (www.mydocsonline.com) offers a general-purpose WebDAV-enabled file storage service. The site specializes in wireless access to the repository. For example, a new feature allows a wireless device user to instruct the service to fax a given document to a specified fax number printing it out without printer support.



WebDAV. Next Generation Collaborative Web Authoring
WebDAV. Next Generation Collaborative Web Authoring
ISBN: 130652083
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 146

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