When a virtual directory is created, it inherits the settings established in the Web Site Property sheet for the Web site to which the virtual directory belongs, which itself inherits the settings established in the Master Property sheet for the IIS server. To modify these settings for the virtual directory, right-click the virtual directory in the MMC and select Properties from the shortcut menu. This will open the Virtual Directory Property sheet (Figure 5-7), which has five tabs that allow you to configure settings as follows:

• Virtual Directory tab: location of mapped folder, access permissions, application settings
• Documents tab: default documents, footers
• Directory Security tab: authentication types, IP restrictions, SSL
• HTTP Headers tab: content expiration, custom headers, content ratings, MIME mappings
• Custom Errors tab: map to HTTP status code pages

Deleting Virtual Directories

To delete a virtual directory, right-click the virtual directory node in the Internet Services Manager Console and select Delete from the shortcut menu and confirm the deletion. You can also delete the virtual directory by selecting the node and pressing the Delete key on the keyboard, or choosing the Delete icon from the rebar, or selecting Delete from the Action drop-down menu on the rebar.

NOTE: Deleting a virtual directory does not delete the Web content stored in the folder or share to which the home directory alias is mapped. It only deletes the mapping between the alias and the content folder.

Using Virtual Directories

The following scenario illustrates the usefulness of using virtual directories in your intranet deployment.

Scenario

The management of MTIT LTD. assigns the company's network administrator the task of developing a corporate intranet. This intranet will contain content created by the following divisions: Planning, Records, and Design. Each division will be responsible for developing its own content. These divisions also have extensive legacy content (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents) stored on a file server called file2.mtit.com, which is working at near capacity. The network administrator is asked to employ minimal resources for building the intranet. Users currently have Office 95 and Netscape Navigator 3 on their desktops. The problem is how to proceed.

Possible Solution

Instruct content developers to store their Web content in their division's folder on file2.mtit.com. Provide them with HTML creation tools and enough training to get them going. This might be a good time to upgrade to Office 2000, which provides users with HTML creation capability. Or, you can download the Internet Assistants for Word 95, Excel 95, and PowerPoint 95 from Microsoft's Web site, which add HTML functionality to Office 95.

Install Internet Information Server on an existing server that is not being utilized near full capacity. As an example, choose backup3.mtit.com.

Create three virtual directories called planning, records, and design within the default Web site on the IIS server. Map these aliases to the appropriate shared folders on the remote file server to allow access through URLs such as:

http://backup3.mtit.com /planning

http://backup3.mtit.com /records

http://backup3.mtit.com /design

Leave the NTFS permissions as currently set on file2.mtit.com and modify IIS security settings as seems appropriate, given the security needs of the company and the nature of the content being published. Create a home page for the default Web site that identifies this as the company intranet, establishes policies and rules of use, and provides links to each division's home page in its own virtual directory.

Explorer 5.0 as the browser client to be used throughout the company. Save Office 2000 documents as HTML and view with Internet Explorer 5. Either way will provide the capability of viewing legacy documents from within Internet Explorer without necessitating the conversion of large quantities of legacy documents into HTML format first.