Namespace access protocols

Along with the HSwift API, HCP supports access to namespace content through these protocols: HTTP (also called the HCP REST API), WebDAV, CIFS, HS3, and NFS. With these protocols, you can access namespaces programmatically with applications, interactively with a command-line tool, or through a GUI. You can use these protocols to perform actions such as storing objects in a namespace, viewing and retrieving objects, changing object metadata, and deleting objects.

HCP allows special-purpose access to namespaces through the SMTP protocol. This protocol is used only for storing email.

The namespace access protocols are configured separately for each namespace and are enabled or disabled independently of each other.

When you use the HSwift API to create a namespace (container), both the HSwift API and the HTTP protocol are automatically enabled for that namespace. Additionally, both the HTTP and HTTPS ports are open for both protocols (that is, the namespace can be accessed with or without SSL security).

Tenant administrators can enable and disable access protocols for any namespace. File system protocols such as CIFS and NFS may be enabled only on a namespace that is not optimized for cloud protocols only (see the Managing a Tenant and Its Namespace manual for details). Cloud protocols such as HSwift, S3, and HCP REST may be enabled/disabled at any time regardless of optimization or protocol used to create the namespace.

Tip: You can ask your tenant administrator to close the HTTP port for the namespaces you create, thereby allowing only secure access to those namespaces.

Objects added to a namespace through any protocol, including HSwift, are immediately accessible through any other protocol that’s enabled for the namespace. Default namespaces cannot use the HSwift API.

For information on using namespace access protocols other than the HSwift API, see Using a Namespace.

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