Apache httpd is the Apache HTTP Server Project.

Subversion has several access layers which connect the client to the Subversion repository. One of these is a WebDAV/DeltaV protocol implementation which has been created as the Apache module mod_dav_svn. This module builds on the standard Apache WebDAV module mod_dav.

Using the Apache web server as a basis for Network access to a Subversion repository brings many benefits. Apache is a proven high throughput web server. Using Apache gives the Subversion project many features:

• Authentication and authorisation using a variety of modules, the simplest being Basic Authentication.
• Secure communications using digital certificates and the https protocol.
• Data compression 'on the wire'
• Basic repository browsing. A GET request for a Subversion URL will return the most recent trunk version of the data at that URL.

Subversion also uses the Apache Runtime Library (APR) as an operating system abstraction layer. It is thanks to this library that Subversion will run on many different platforms. As a general rule if Apache will run on your system then Subversion should as well.