Planning Directory Structures

This section gives some basic information and suggestions about organizing directories and files to facilitate network administration:


Directories Created during NetWare Installation

During installation, the following directories pertaining to the file system are automatically created.


Application Directories

For ease of management, you should keep application files in a directory apart from the data files. Since the application programs do not normally change, you can keep one set of application files on backup media and skip the application directories when you do network backups.

When creating application directories, you should also consider issues related to ease of distribution, installation, and operational control for network applications. For more information on creating application directories, see the ZENworks for Desktops 3.2.

Although you can access applications from local drives, installing them on the network provides convenient access. Several structures are possible for application directories:


Data Directories

These are work directories for groups and users to keep work files in. You can also create a directory to transfer files between directories on the network.

Although data can be created and stored in a home or user directory, when data is stored in a user's directory, no other user (except network administrators or managers assigned file rights) can access it.

Data directories also allow users to share data, create work directories, and make trustee assignments for groups or users who need access to these directories.


Home or Username Directories

To provide personal workspace for users, create home or username directories.

You can create a parent directory in volume SYS: called HOME or USERS. Or, you can create a separate HOME or USERS volume. Then you can create a subdirectory for each user.

The name of each subdirectory should be the username. Usernames can be up to 47 characters, but DOS displays only 8 characters in a one-level directory name. The following figure shows this type of directory structure.

Figure 6
Home or Username Directories



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