Drive mapping

Drive mapping is how operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, associate a local drive letter (A through Z) with a shared storage area to another computer (often referred as a File Server) over a network. After a drive has been mapped, a software application on a client's computer can read and write files from the shared storage area by accessing that drive, just as if that drive represented a local physical hard disk drive.[1][2]

Drive mapping

Mapped Drives are hard drives (even if located on a virtual or cloud computing system, or network drives) which are always represented by names, letter(s), or number(s) and they are often followed by additional strings of data, directory tree branches, or alternate level(s) separated by a "\" symbol. Drive mapping is used to locate directories, files or objects, and programs or apps, and is needed by end users, administrators, and various other operators or groups.

Mapped drives are usually assigned a letter of the alphabet after the first few taken, such as A:\, B:\, C:\, and D:\ (which is usually an optical drive unit). Then, with the drive and/or directory (letters, symbols, numbers, names) mapped, they can be entered into the necessary address bar/location(s) and displayed as in the following:

Example 1:

C:\level\next level\following level

or

C:\BOI60471CL\Shared Documents\Multi-Media Dept

The preceding location may reach something like a company's multi-media department's database, which logically is represented with the entire string "C:\BDB60471CL\Shared Documents\Multi-Media Dept".

Mapping a drive can be complicated for a complex system. Network mapped drives (on LANs or WANs) are available only when the host computer (File Server) is also available (i.e. online): it is a requirement for use of drives on a host. All data on various mapped drives will have certain permissions set (most newer systems) and the user will need the particular security authorizations to access it.

Drive mapping over LAN usually uses the SMB protocol on Windows or NFS protocol on Unix/Linux; Drive mapping over the Internet usually uses the WebDAV protocol. WebDAV Drive mapping is supported on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

gollark: No, I mean how do you use that to get intuition for number of solutions of some equations.
gollark: I've seen it with intersecting lines/planes(/hyperplanes), how does it work to interpret it as a transformation?
gollark: I don't think it tries to clarify the actual underlying foundational stuff much.
gollark: This is basically the last bit of a chapter containing various integration methods.
gollark: But even if they hadn't done it wrong, I still disagree with their decision to make you know this definition but not apply it in any way except when a question uses it to slightly obfuscate integrals.

See also

References
  1. Clarke, Glen E.; Tetz, Edward (January 30, 2007). CompTIA A+ Certification All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies. For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 967. ISBN 978-0471748113.
  2. Harris, Jeffrey (2003). Novell NetWare 6.5 Administrator's Handbook. Novell Press. Que Publishing. p. 599. ISBN 0789741547.
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