Lesson 5
Objective
Benefits of using aliases/ virtual directories.
A virtual directory allows you to serve up a file or series of files from any
area of the system's hard drive. Many professionals refer to a virtual directory as an alias. From a technical standpoint, a virtual directory
allows a Web server to map a URL path name (seen in the browser) to a local file (seen as you access the hard drive locally, say through a file
management program) anywhere on the hard drive.
Some of the advantages of the flexible mapping of URL path names to local file names include:
Some of the advantages of the flexible mapping of URL path names to local file names include:
| Advantage | Explanation |
| The ability to serve files that do not reside immediately beneath the Web server root directory | Most Web servers require that all files be located directly beneath the Web server root. However, a virtual directory allows you to include any local file or folder into the Web server directory structure, regardless of its location. You can establish a virtual directory on another system, if you wish. |
| Simplified organizational structure | Instead of having to locate all files and folders beneath the Web server root, an administrator can arrange files on disk at his or her discretion. |
| Cleaner URLs | Although this is a minor issue, the URL shown in the viewer's browser reflects the site's organization, enhancing the viewer's ability to navigate and enjoy the site. |
It starts by showing you how a Web server searches for documents by default, then shows how you can implement a virtual directory solution.
iis virtual directory
In the next lesson, we will discuss virtual servers.
