Datasheet

“main” (Installation and Administration) — 2004/6/25 — 13:29 — page 557 — #583
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23
File Synchronization
23.1.2 CVS
CVS, which is mostly used for managing program source versions, offers
the possibility to keep copies of the files on multiple computers. Accord-
ingly, it is also suitable for data synchronization.
CVS maintains a central repository on the server in which the files and
changes to files are saved. Changes that are performed locally are commit-
ted to the repository and can be retrieved from other computers by means
of an update. Both procedures must be initiated by the user.
CVS is very resilient to errors when changes occur on several computers.
The changes are merged and, if changes took place in the same lines, a con-
flict is reported. When a conflict occurs, the database remains in a consis-
tent state. The conflict is only visible for resolution on the client host.
23.1.3 subversion
In contrast to the evolved CVS, subversion is a consistently designed
project. subversion was developed to supersede CVS and to alleviate its
technical shortcomings.
subversion has been improved in many respects to its predecessor. Due
to its history, CVS only maintains files and is oblivious of directories. Di-
rectories also have a version history in subversion and can be copied and
renamed just like files. It is also possible to add metadata to every file and
to every directory. This metadata can be fully maintained with versioning.
As opposed to CVS, subversion supports transparent network access over
dedicated protocols, like WebDAV.
subversion was, in large part, assembled using already existing application
packages. This is why the web server apache and the extension WebDAV
are always run in conjunction with subversion.
23.1.4 mailsync
Unlike the synchronization tools covered in the previous sections, mail-
sync only synchronizes e-mails between mailboxes. The procedure can be
applied to local mailbox files as well as to mailboxes on an IMAP server.
Based on the message ID contained in the e-mail header, the individual
messages are either synchronized or deleted. Synchronization is possible
between individual mailboxes and between mailbox hierarchies.
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SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server