IIS 6.0 is bigger, faster and definitively more security. Is it easier to
configure? Judging by the extra menus, new features, new acronyms and
backwards compatibility - no. But then if everything was easy you would
not need the likes of you and I!
Microsoft's philosophy on security is changing and the proof is here in IIS. Microsoft default used to be for ease of now
they are committed to locking down settings, and their strategy is to disable
services that are not required for example, FTP and NNTP disabled on pure web
servers. Why not try the IIS Security Lockdown wizard which you can download
from Microsoft's site?
Does IIS 6.0 have major differences compared with Windows 200 - yes. New
application pool and area for Web Service Extensions. An indication of all
the development work lies in the version number, while other Windows Server 2003
components report to version 5.x, IIS is version 6.0.
Where is the IIS Install gone?
Check out Add Remove Programs / Windows Components - Application Server/IIS
Details
Which components use IIS? - More than you think!
Firstly, a reminder that the main purpose of IIS is to respond to HTTP get page requests.
Now think of all the applications that rely on web components.
WWW Web service for displaying web pages
SQL 2000. HTTP queries and also the Monitor service
Exchange uses the SMTP virtual server
OWA (Outlook Web Access) thin clients of Exchange
FTP if you allow client to load up files
NNTP another virtual server this time for network news groups. NNTP is
also needed by Exchange 2000/3
SharePoint Portal server needs the FrontPage Web Extensions
Web or Internet based printing another use of Web Extensions
Technical Information
HTTP.SYS is well named as its job is to route HTTP requests to
applications. Think of HTTP.SYS as a good listener that manages TCP/IP connections
and sends requests
to the correct queue.
It works by fetching stored procedures, however, there are no worries that user
mode code can execute directly in the kernel. In addition Kernel mode caching results
in a 70% improvement in dealing with http get requests.
INETINFO.EXE is still there running the following components: FTP, SMTP, NNTP,
ADO and ODBC connections
The Metabase - that strange registry for IIS, has been replaced with Metabase.xml in the %windir%\system32\inetsrv folder.
N.B. the default %windir% would be Windows not WINNT.
Monitor Your Network with the Real-time Traffic Analyzer
The main reason to monitor your network is to check at a glance which
of
your servers are available. If there is a network problem you
want an interface to show the scope of the problem immediately.
Even when all servers and routers are available, sooner or later you will be curious to
know who, or what, is hogging the precious network's bandwidth. A GUI
showing the top 10 users makes interesting reading.
Another reason to monitor network traffic is to learn more about your
server's response times and the consumption of resources. To take the pain out of
capturing frames and analysing the raw data, Guy recommends that you download a copy of
the SolarWinds
free Real-time NetFlow Analyzer.
Mega Technical
Fusion Support - Precise versions of runtime COM components
Partition Support Different COM+ permissions for different users
Tracker Support - Help to debug applications
MSMQ - Microsoft Message Queuing
Receive and send messages. Used with BizTalk server, works with C#, and
VB.NET
Database Support for
ADO, ODBC.
IIS integrates with
Key Management and
Certificate Authority
▫
.NET Framework
Supersedes .asp? Active server pages where clever html code runs on the
server.
The extra features you get in your eBook
include: new pages with more examples, detailed checklists, and
recommendations for each stage. Go for Guy's migration eBook
- and get a printable version with copy enabled and
no expiry date.
*
Guy
Recommends: SolarWinds LANSurveyor
LANSurveyor will produce a neat diagram of your network topology. But that's
just the start;
LANSurveyor can
create an inventory of the hardware and software
of your machines and network devices.
The extra features you get in your eBook
include: new pages with more examples, detailed checklists, and
recommendations for each stage. Go for Guy's migration eBook
- and get a printable version with copy enabled and
no expiry date. 
