WebDAV

This is a protocol for working with files over HTTP (or HTTPS). Thanks to that, it's very possible to setup a file share that can be accessed through a firewall without opening any more ports. You can use a WebDAV share with native clients built into many modern operating systems or by using dedicated clients.

• List of WebDAV based projects

One thing to be aware of is that Microsoft Windows Vista and 7, by default, have an option set to not allow Basic Authentication over insecure HTTP traffic. They will allow you to use it over and SSL connection however. This is a problem when using an owncloud instance without SSL. How to mount ownCloud storage over WebDAV. If you follow the Microsoft KB 841215 article, you can change that to allow Basic Authentication without SSL for Vista/7. One thing to note, username and password credentials are sent in the clear without even encryption in this mode so it makes it much easier for someone to snoop your credentials.

I setup an ownCloud instance in my home network to experiment with and ran into all of these issues. One major thing I've learned is that WebDAV is suitable for use to allow people to access their files remotely without having to touch any firewall settings. That was a technical interview question I have been asked in the past.

Now I'm researching why the file transfers seem so slow. KB 2445570 shows one possible solution but not one that works for me.