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[S1183]Svn Version Control System
by Shaun Parker, Sha
This was until 2000 when CollabNet Inc contacted Karl Fogel, the author of Open Source Development with CVS, to collaborate on a programme that would match the same development features as CVS but without duplicating the flaws.

Interest spread rapidly and a community of active developers evolved mainly due to widespread frustration with the existing flaws and limitations of CVS. On 31st August 2001 the developers of Subversion stopped using CVS to host Subversions source code. Subversion was self-hosting and more importantly it was free.

So what is Subversion? Effectively it is a system which manages files and directories, allowing users to make changes to data whilst keeping a retrievable record of data changed; alledgedly the same as CVS however focussing on the development of the weaknesses prevalent in the aforementioned system. I decided to put it to the test.

These alledged weaknesses of CVS included: the inability to version the moving or renaming of files and directories, no versioning of symbolic links, limited support for Unicode text-files, no atomic commit and expensive branch operations.

One of the major improvements I found had been developed was the three-dimensional file system which allows multiple revisions to be made to the same file whilst maintaining a compact file size.

Previously where files were revised often the file size was high and moving large files around the system was impractical. Now each file-system has its own root which manages the data of each revision, meaning that revisions do not require additional storage space.

I found other benefits of Subversion are that it tracks changes to entire directories as opposed to individual files. File histories are started from fresh each time a new file or directory is created even if it shares a name with another file or directory.

The atomic commits feature is usefeful and enables developers to construct changes, sending all modifications to the repository in bite-size fragments, preventing problems previously occurring when only a portion of a set of changes were successfully sent to the repository.

I found that properties are versioned just as file contents, enabling me to create and store property values over time and there is a choice of network layers simplifying the implementation of new network mechanisms.

I also found the data handling is more consistent due to the usage of a binary differencing algorithm when dealing with file differences, which works identically whether dealing with binary or text. Branching and tagging has been made more effective and the system itself has been made more compatible with other applications and languages.

Subversion is not without its own problems. I found the file directory and rename operations caused some confusion to the system as it makes a copy of the new name and a delete of the old name whilst maintaining the same history. This can cause confusion when files are moved and modified in the same commit.

Also it lacks some administration and management features and stores additional copies of data on the local machine, potentially causing problems for big projects. However the system is free where its predecessor was a proprietary system, so can be downloaded, modified and distributed under free software licence.

The home of Subversion is on the website Tigris and although the open-source community does not provide binary I found that these can be downloaded from volunteers and CallobNet.

Are there any common IT security issues that we should pay attention to? IT security auditor should check that the information you are using is securely kept and managed.

Keeping information secure is not a kind of art. There are some major issues your admin should remember about. First, keep data in secure place, such as encrypted hard disk. Second, make sure only authorized persons can access certain information. Third, make sure it's not possible for intruder to get your data.

To make an audit of backup process it's enough to emulate the system crash. How long will it take to recover the whole system? Will all the data be recovered? What will be data lost? Once, auditor have these data, it's necessary to compare it against common industry, e.g. benchmark your backup process metrics against your colleagues.

What about controlling, if only authorized person can access sensitive data? It's harder than checking up backup. The thing you should start with is making sure that authorized administrator have a clear structure of who have access to the sensitive data, there might be a levels of access, but the whole system must be described clearly. This is the key part of secure authorization and information sharing.

The most important - how do your people manage secure information? If there is a chance of copying secure information, e.g. possible information leakage? If there are some persons who is unaware about security measures that are used within company? Do users follow an appropriate password policy?

There are much more questions about possible security leakages and the must-scan issues. How to get known what should security expert scan? Well, it depends on how can potential intruder get your data. It's necessary to use file shredder (better if it would be background mode) to make sure it's not possible to recover data.

How to check if users are managing files in a proper way? Try to find possible breaks in security. For instance, someone can keep files not in document management system, which is protected with strong encryption, but on local hard disk, protecting them with easy to crack password.

Can people at your company use a flash drives? It's very dangerous, as it would be easy to copy the sensitive data and take it out the company, but again, some business really require information to be copied on flash drives? What is the solution? Try to monitor the actual information that is copies on these drivers. For instance, if user copies a password protected files, then it might be a possible security issue.

Checking the passwords is another task. Short or known password will not work. Make sure there is a copy password policy which tells what passwords are good and why. Make sure people follow this policy.

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Both Shaun Parker & Sam are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Shaun Parker has sinced written about articles on various topics from Online Marketing, Auto Insurance and Wedding Bells. Shaun Parker is a leading developer in open-source code and recommends after years of development.. Shaun Parker's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.

Sam has sinced written about articles on various topics from Software, Management and Nokia Phones. %author_bio%. Sam's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.
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