What are the differences between defining a public URL when creating a new web application , and defining an alternative access mapping

Question

If I want to create a new web application to be under a URL such as http://companyname.intra. So I found that I can do so when creating a new web application, where I can define the Public URL to be http://companyname.intra , or I can define the web application to be under http://servername:portnumber and hen define an alternative access mapping for the servername:prtnumber to be http://compnayname.intra. So what are the differences between both approaches ? Thanks.

Answer 1

This blog will gives you a better understanding of AAM.

http://blog.blksthl.com/2012/12/03/a-guide-to-alternate-access-mappings-basics-in-sharepoint-2013/