Does any faster centralized version control than SVN exists?

Question

I've been using SVN since a long time and now we're trying on Git. I'm not talking on the centralized / decentralized debate here. My only concern is speed.

The latter tool is much faster. But sometimes, I NEED to work with a centralized approach, which is much more simple and less complex than the decentralized one. The learning curve is really fast, which saves a lot of time (while digging into decentralized would lead to a waste of time, given the learning curve is much longer and we encounter more problem when working with it).

However, SVN is really slow compared to GIT, and I don't think it has anything to do with the centralized argument. Decentralized systems also have to deal with server connections and file transfert. So I can easilly imagine a faster implementation of centralized version control could exists.

Does someone has any clue on this?

Answer 1

The one CVCS (Centralized Version Control System) I know being much faster than SVN is not a freeware one:

Perforce

I detail Perforce in this SO answer.

You can see a comparison between Perforce and Subversion in this document.
Its merge support in particular is much more effective.

Answer 2

Git supports many topologies, including the centralised CVS/SVN approach. There are several options:

1. Provide a central shared repository via ssh. gitosis makes this easier.
2. Use github private accounts.
3. Use github's commercial server product, github:fi in your own data center.