Windows Server Cookbook

Chapter 12. Internet Information Services 6.0

Introduction

Internet Information Services (IIS) is not only a popular platform for hosting web sites, it’s also a required component for a number of Windows Server System (WSS) products, including Content Management Server, Exchange Server, Virtual Server, and Systems Management Server. Because these products rely on IIS for many of their core functions, understanding how IIS works is essential if you need to deploy, administer, or troubleshoot such products.

IIS 6.0 has been rewritten almost from scratch for Windows Server 2003, and its improved architecture supports a wide range of new features including application pools, health monitoring, worker process recycling, and web gardens. Security has also been improved in several ways; for example, IIS is no longer installed by default during a Windows Server 2003 installation (except for Windows Server 2003 Web Edition), and when you do install IIS, the default settings allow only static content to be served. In order to configure IIS to deliver dynamic content such as ASP or ASP.NET applications, you must selectively enable these features using the new Web Service Extensions node in IIS Manager. This chapter provides recipes for the most common tasks an IIS administrator faces on a day-to-day basis.

Tip

You cannot upgrade IIS 5.0 on Windows 2000 to IIS 6.0. The only operating system IIS 6.0 runs on is Windows Server 2003. The focus of this chapter is on IIS 6.0.

Application Isolation

IIS ...