Professional Microsoft IIS 8

Server Workload Customization

This new modular architecture provides server administrators and developers with the capacity to tune IIS to optimal performance and security by selecting which modules to include and which to “weed out” from the server workload.

For example, if you want to deliver a public website with only static HTML, including user authentication and CGI handling is not just a waste of system resources, but it may also open your web server to potential threats from attacks against yet-unknown vulnerabilities in those modules.

Note

Many of the examples encountered below assume that several optional components not included in a default IIS installation have been already installed. Please review Chapter 4, “Installing IIS 8.0,” for further information on installing optional IIS components prior to activating those components using the methods demonstrated below.

Eliminating Overheads

Now it is possible to load only those modules required. Try this exercise as a demonstration. Note that you will need administrator privileges.

Warning

Performing this exercise on a production system will cause disruption to website delivery! You should use a development or test system for this process.

1. On your IIS 8 server, open the default IIS home page (http://localhost), and then open Task Manager. (Click WIN+R, enter taskmgr in the dialog, and then click OK.)

2. Look for the worker process task (w3wp.exe) in the processes list, and observe the memory resource ...