Where to put .htaccess file?

Question

I have some settings which I want to use in .htaccess file. The settings are for some functionality at /admin/tool folder level .. but I want to include some settings for /admin and / locations as well.

My question is what is the best location to put this file at??

Thanks

Update

Just fyi .. I want to apply settings like

max file upload size maz execution time etc 

Answer 1

Place general rules in:

/.htaccess 

Place /admin/ specific rules in:

/admin/.htaccess 

Place /admin/tool/ specific rules in:

/admin/tool/.htaccess 

Answer 2

You can put your .htaccess in the top level directory and have it apply settings to specific subfolders.