File system settings for multiple sites... best practices?
When setting up Drupal to host multiple sites, the default /files directory will suffice, but it is better to somehow distinguish uploaded files with each site. My question is, what is the best option for this and is one more secure than the other? As I see it, there are two obvious solutions, one, create subdirectories within the default /files directory and point each sites file system path setting to that location. This leaves you with a directory structure like so:
/files/site1.com/
/files/site1.com/pictures
/files/site1.com/video
/files/site1.com/etc
/files/site2.com/
/files/site2.com/pictures
/files/site2.com/documents
/files/site2.com/etc
etc
But the example above means you have both a /sites/site1.com/ directory and a /files/site1.com/ directory to be concerned with for upgrading or switching hosts etc. So I would rather creat the uploaded files directory in with the modules and themes I already place in the /sites directories. Which would create a situation as such:
/sites/site1.com/files/
/sites/site1.com/files/pictures
/sites/site1.com/files/videos
/sites/site1.com/modules/...
/sites/site1.com/themes/...
/sites/site2.com/files/
/sites/site2.com/files/pictures
/sites/site2.com/files/videos
/sites/site2.com/modules/...
/sites/site2.com/themes/...
So, is there any draw backs, security or othrwise, to this second example? Also, I am curious about the tmp file directory. Is there any benefit or draw back to pull it from its default home and stick it into each specific /sites directory?
Thanks
leave the tmp directory
leave the tmp directory where it is... it's at /tmp (relative to the root directory of the server), which is not web accessible. and that's a good thing. since it only contains temporary stuff, you also don't need to worry about creating separate tmp directories for each site, nor do you have to move any of it's contents when you upgrade or move sites.
for what it's worth, i did a pretty extensive writeup a while back on the multisite site drupal file configuration i usually use. might give you an idea or two.