by Jim » Tue Oct 21, 2008 1:22 pm
Yes, in a mall situation all the stores share the same cgis but have separate data and output directories. Note that each store requires a separate license.
This has some advantages such as being able to run an upgrade once and have all store updated at the same time. There is also a saving on disk space, which probably much for 4 stores but if you had hundreds it would add up. Now considering the size of hard drives it's not as much an issue as a few years ago.
Disadvantages are that in a mall all stores will be upgraded if only one person wants the upgrade which may cause stress on some merchants who like the "way things are". Also sharing cgis can cause problems if you allow merchants to have OrderAPI or custom shipping addons etc. An errant cgi could cause problems that would not occur if each store were in a separate area.
If all the stores are your own the above issues probably won't make much difference.