WebDAV

WebDAV is the protocol that tries to make a web server feel like a file server. It offers folders you can mount as a drive letter, files you can lock, properties you can query — all over ordinary HTTP. It occupies a curious niche: built into every major operating system, embedded in document systems everywhere. And yet it is rarely anyone's first choice for new designs.

This series explains what WebDAV actually adds to HTTP and how to use it well where it fits. It covers the classic quirks (large files and OS clients have a complicated relationship). It covers how to secure an endpoint you're responsible for. It takes an honest look at where WebDAV survives and what has replaced it elsewhere.

Articles in This Series

• How WebDAV Extends HTTP: Methods, Properties, and Locking
  The added verbs and lock semantics — and how they explain the quirks.
• Mounting Remote Storage as a Drive with WebDAV
  OS clients and their limits, with honest performance expectations.
• WebDAV vs SFTP vs SMB for Remote File Access
  The three-way mapping: firewalls, OS integration, performance, security.
• Securing a WebDAV Endpoint
  Auth choices, TLS, method lockdown, and the hardening pass for inherited servers.
• Troubleshooting WebDAV: The Classic Failures
  Client quirks, proxy interference, large-file timeouts — symptom to fix.
• Where WebDAV Survives: The Ecosystem Reality Check
  Document management, calendaring cousins, and graceful support strategies.

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This series is part of the Sysax file transfer topic library. The library covers the protocols, security practices, automation techniques, and operational skills behind reliable file transfer. The library pairs well with the practical tools we build. Sysax Multi Server is a secure FTP, FTPS, SFTP, and HTTPS server for Windows. Sysax FTP Automation schedules and scripts secure transfers so the routine ones run themselves.