My point is, can I defined *.* as protected files where the index.html, fly.jpg are not inlcluded in *.* definition. So, here, the visitor can still freely accessing the my index.html and fly.jpg where they are availbale in every sub domain directory.

Depending on the versions of your software, these might be usefull: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/howto/auth.html#basic http://httpd.apache.org/docs/mod/core.html#files Specifically, the regex matching of the <FILES> section. If you can provide some more info, I can let you know if these would help you. What kernel rev do you use? What File System, and how big are the block sizes? How much ram is in your machine? What version of apache are you using? Do you have mod_perl installed, if so, what version of PERL are you using? Do you have a TCP stack with the syn/ack flag support? Are you using IPv4 or IPv6? Do you use 8903.11t? You're not using token ring, are you? -Setag