Version Control with Subversion, 2nd Edition

Choosing a Server Configuration

So, which server should you use? Which is best?

Obviously, there’s no one answer to that question. Every team has different needs, and the different servers all represent different sets of trade-offs. The Subversion project itself doesn’t endorse one server over another or consider either server more “official.”

Here are some reasons why you might choose one deployment over another, as well as reasons you might not choose one.

The svnserve Server

Why you might want to use it:

• Quick and easy to set up.

• Network protocol is stateful and noticeably faster than WebDAV.

• No need to create system accounts on the server.

• Password is not passed over the network.

Why you might want to avoid it:

• By default, only one authentication method is available, the network protocol is not encrypted, and the server stores clear text passwords. (All these things can be changed by configuring SASL, but it’s a bit more work to do.)

• No logging of any kind, not even errors.

• No built-in web browsing. (You’d have to install a separate web server and repository browsing software to add this.)

svnserve over SSH

Why you might want to use it:

• The network protocol is stateful and noticeably faster than WebDAV.

• You can take advantage of existing SSH accounts and user infrastructure.

• All network traffic is encrypted.

Why you might want to avoid it:

• Only one choice of authentication method is available.

• There is no logging of any kind, not even errors.

• It requires users to be in the same system group, or ...