<s>
Drive	B-General_Concept
mapping	I-General_Concept
is	O
how	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
associates	O
a	O
local	O
drive	O
letter	O
(	O
A	O
through	O
Z	O
)	O
with	O
a	O
shared	B-General_Concept
storage	I-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
to	O
another	O
computer	O
(	O
often	O
referred	O
as	O
a	O
File	O
Server	O
)	O
over	O
a	O
network	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
a	O
drive	O
has	O
been	O
mapped	O
,	O
a	O
software	B-Application
application	I-Application
on	O
a	O
client	B-Protocol
's	O
computer	O
can	O
read	O
and	O
write	O
files	B-Operating_System
from	O
the	O
shared	B-General_Concept
storage	I-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
by	O
accessing	O
that	O
drive	O
,	O
just	O
as	O
if	O
that	O
drive	O
represented	O
a	O
local	O
physical	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mapped	O
drives	O
are	O
hard	B-Device
drives	I-Device
(	O
even	O
if	O
located	O
on	O
a	O
virtual	O
or	O
cloud	O
computing	O
system	O
,	O
or	O
network	B-Architecture
drives	O
)	O
which	O
are	O
always	O
represented	O
by	O
names	O
,	O
letter(s )	O
,	O
or	O
number(s )	O
and	O
they	O
are	O
often	O
followed	O
by	O
additional	O
strings	O
of	O
data	O
,	O
directory	B-Application
tree	I-Application
branches	O
,	O
or	O
alternate	O
level(s )	O
separated	O
by	O
a	O
"	O
\	O
 "	O
symbol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Drive	B-General_Concept
mapping	I-General_Concept
is	O
used	O
to	O
locate	O
directories	B-Application
,	O
files	B-Operating_System
or	O
objects	O
,	O
and	O
programs	O
or	O
apps	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
needed	O
by	O
end	O
users	O
,	O
administrators	O
,	O
and	O
various	O
other	O
operators	O
or	O
groups	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mapped	O
drives	O
are	O
usually	O
assigned	O
a	O
letter	O
of	O
the	O
alphabet	O
after	O
the	O
first	O
few	O
taken	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
A:\,	O
B:\	O
(	O
both	O
of	O
which	O
were	O
historically	O
removable	O
flexible	O
magnetic	O
media	O
drives	O
)	O
,	O
C:\	O
(	O
usually	O
the	O
first	O
or	O
only	O
installed	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
)	O
,	O
and	O
D:\	O
(	O
which	O
was	O
often	O
an	O
optical	O
drive	O
unit	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Then	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
drive	O
and/or	O
directory	B-Application
(	O
letters	O
,	O
symbols	O
,	O
numbers	O
,	O
names	O
)	O
mapped	O
,	O
they	O
can	O
be	O
entered	O
into	O
the	O
necessary	O
address	O
bar/location	O
( s	O
)	O
and	O
displayed	O
as	O
in	O
the	O
following	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Network	B-Architecture
mapped	O
drives	O
(	O
on	O
LANs	B-General_Concept
or	O
WANs	O
)	O
are	O
available	O
only	O
when	O
the	O
host	B-Device
computer	I-Device
(	O
File	O
Server	O
)	O
is	O
also	O
available	O
(	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
online	O
)	O
:	O
it	O
is	O
a	O
requirement	O
for	O
use	O
of	O
drives	O
on	O
a	O
host	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Drive	B-General_Concept
mapping	I-General_Concept
over	O
LAN	B-General_Concept
usually	O
uses	O
the	O
SMB	B-Operating_System
protocol	I-Operating_System
on	O
Windows	O
or	O
NFS	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
on	O
UNIX/Linux	O
(	O
however	O
UNIX/Linux	O
do	O
not	O
map	O
devices	O
to	O
drive	O
letters	O
as	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
Windows	O
do	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Drive	B-General_Concept
mapping	I-General_Concept
over	O
the	O
Internet	O
usually	O
uses	O
the	O
WebDAV	B-Protocol
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WebDAV	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
mapping	O
is	O
supported	O
on	O
Windows	O
,	O
Mac	O
,	O
and	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
