ASP in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Microsoft Management Console and the Metabase

Microsoft's Management Console (MMC) allows you to configure and administer several server applications in your enterprise, from SQL Server 7.0 to Site Server to Transaction Server to Internet Information Server. This console application allows you to administer several aspects of your enterprise that previously required you to master several separate applications without a consistent interface. Microsoft's goal is that MMC eventually be used to control all segments of Microsoft BackOffice.

It is important to note, however, that MMC itself is not actually doing anything. MMC is simply a container for administration programs called snap-ins. The interface of the MMC is published, and third parties can write their own snap-ins in addition to those provided by Microsoft.

The snap-in for administration of Internet Information Server is similar to all other snap-ins. Each snap-in consists of two panes (see Figure 4.1). The left pane, called the scope pane, displays a hierarchical view of all the items that can be administered by this snap-in. As you would expect, administering high-level items in this pane affects those items located hierarchically below them. For example, if you administer the properties of the web server itself, all the web sites located under it also are affected.

Figure D.1. The Microsoft Management Console

This simplification ...