Add a directory to the Apache Web Root?

I'm running httpd on linux.

I have a folder (/data/) that is not in the apache web directory (/var/www/html/) that I would like users to be able to access from their browser. I don't want to move this folder.

How do I make files in this folder accessible to a web browser when the folder is outside the apache web folder?

You can use mod_alias to do this quite simply

Alias /data /data/outside/documentroot
<Directory /data/outside/documentroot>
     Order allow,deny
     Allow from all
</Directory>

Would redirect urls like http://example.com/data/file1.dat to the file /data/outside/documentroot/file1.dat

You want Alias.

I used a symlink to pull this off. I'm wondering if there are any implications of doing this that I should be aware of.

ln -s /data/ /var/www/html/