What is the difference between a VDir and a WebDir??

[Paul O]

Hi all,

I am fairly new to the whole web creation game.

I have been handed a VB project which has the ability to create a webdir, and also a Virtual directory.

Could someone explain what the difference is, and why you would create a Web directory? I can't seem to find the option within the MMC to create a Web directory manually. Is it only possible via code?

Any comments would be appreciated!!

Thankyou,

Paul.

[Cander]

well webdir is a directory thta resides in the inetpub/wwwroot directory. A virtual directory points to a directory that can reside on any drive/directory.

As far as any difference, I cant be 100% sure but I think Vdir you have more control over it from MMC/IIS. If it is just simple html page/asp pages, a webdir would be fine, but it is probably always best to use a virtual directory for full web applications.

[JoshT]

well webdir is a directory that resides in the inetpub/wwwroot directory. A virtual directory points to a directory that can reside on any drive/directory.

You don't need the inetpub/wwwroot directory at all if you set your web root to be in another place. I move all mine off the C: drive, which also makes your IIS server somewhat more secure (Path exploit scripts won't work).

But what a Virtual Directory does is let you put a folder outside of the web root folder, or even a network share.

So if your web root is the default C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\ nad you put a page.php file in it,
then www.yourname.com/page.php would be in that directory.

However, if you make D:\MyStuff\Junk into a Virtual Directory named (aliased or whatever) Test, and put a file page.aspx into it, then it can be accessed "virtually" by www.yourname.com/Test/page.aspx evwen though there's not a Test folder in the wwwroot folder.

Virtual Directory are run as seperate web applications, but you can run a folder in the web root as one anyway if you want.