Windows Server 2003 Network Administration

Chapter 12. Configuring Internet and Intranet Web Services with IIS

Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 (the version of IIS that is native to Windows Server 2003) marks a radical change in philosophy, design, and configuration from previous versions. Unlike Windows 2000 IIS, IIS 6.0 does not install by default. If IIS services are required, they must be selected during server installation or added at a later time. This is the first version of IIS that, when installed, becomes a static web server. The administrator must select, install, and configure the additional features to use them. In addition, IIS has a substantially different architecture, including the following:

• An XML metabase (the configuration database for IIS)

• Support for automatic metabase versioning and history

• Improved performance because of kernel mode caching

• Worker process isolation mode installed as the default

Tip

A worker process is user-level code that is used to process requests. Worker process isolation mode refers to how the code is isolated from other user-level code running on the server.

Before installing IIS, you must determine the reason for its installation. This may be the need for a static web site, a web-based application, or even an IIS-based service such as the need for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) services for Active Directory replication. The configuration of IIS depends on knowledge of its use. Once that has been decided, IIS administration requires knowledge of the following: ...