Port 674
ACAP
**ACAP (Application Configuration Access Protocol)** is a protocol designed primarily for the storage, retrieval, and management of user configuration data and preferences across multiple devices or applications. It facilitates centralized access to user-related data such as bookmarks, contact lists, and email preferences, making user profiles portable and synchronized across distributed clients..
Technical Details
Overview
ACAP, standardized in RFC 2244, is an application-layer protocol that enables clients to remotely access and manage structured hierarchical data, often related to user settings. It employs a client-server model using TCP to provide reliable communication between clients and servers, supporting authenticated and authorized access.
Structure and Capabilities
The protocol manages hierarchical data stores similar to lightweight directories, supporting capabilities such as:
- Searching: Efficient server-side searching with filtering.
- Fetching: Retrieval of selected configuration items.
- Modification: Atomic updates, additions, and deletions.
- Access Control: Integration with ACLs for user-specific permissions.
This design promotes seamless synchronization of user preferences across email clients, address books, bookmarks, and other compatible network-enabled applications.
Integration and Deployment
While initially envisioned to work closely with email-related protocols like IMAP and LDAP, ACAP remained relatively niche due to the rise of alternative synchronization technologies and proprietary solutions. However, its flexible, hierarchical data model remains an influential design for remote configuration services.