Why did S3/object storage succeed while WebDAV apparently failed?
Why did S3/object storage succeed while WebDAV apparently failed?
WebDAV has been around a lot longer and does many of the same things as object storage. It also has support for random access read/writes where object storage requires you to download, edit, and re-upload the whole file. Seems like a no-brainer if you wanted to offer cloud storage to customers.
I thought maybe supporting large uploads was the draw, but WebDAV can support chunking, so you don't need to allocate extra server resources to accommodate large files.
I use both daily, and WebDAV just seems like it does everything better: object storage feels like throwing files in a junk drawer and WebDAV more like an organized filing cabinet.
Aside from Nextcloud and a few FOSS applications, the only big thing I recall that adopted WebDAV was Frontpage back in the day.
So, what am I missing? What makes object storage so compelling that it became ubiquitous while WebDAV is practically a legacy spec?
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S3 succeeded due to the scaling capabilities and the ability to abstract completely away from a server or disk. The straight forward Key/Value nature of the s3api was a big assistance in achieving the scaling and adoptability.
Comparing it to WebDav seems like comparing apples and... an orange smoothie.