IIS 4.0 Scales New Heights

Scalability and reliability are the watchwords for Microsoft's newest Web server.

Steve Gillmor

Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) started out as a strategic partner for Internet Explorer. Their mission: put Microsoft back in the Internet game. IIS 4.0, shipping as a feature of Windows NT Server, integrates key transactional and management technologies from the forthcoming NT 5.0. The resulting server provides scalable Web-based applications for Internet service providers (ISPs); and for organizations, enhanced security features simplify entry to the emerging e-commerce marketplace.

For scalable Web application services, IIS ca n fold application invocation and scripting logic into a Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) application. Now, Active Server Pages (ASP) scripts can run inside a transaction, so if any portion fails, the entire transaction is rolled back. Applications can also run in a separate memory space from the Web server, protecting the server, the site, and other applications from an iso lated application crash. When I triggered an ActiveX component that generated an illegal divide-by-zero, IIS 4.0 kept everything else running and automatically restarted the crashed component on the next request.

Out-of-process components can be dynamically loaded and unloaded without bringing down the Web server. NT Server Enterprise Edition 4.0 administrators can use its clustering services to offer failover service between Web sites on different servers. IIS 4.0 uses the Microsoft Script Debugger, so you can set breakpoints; run server-side scripts a line at a time; locate and fix run-time, synt ax, and logical errors; and view variables, properties, or array element values.

The new Microsoft Management Console ( MMC ) administers IIS, MTS, Index Server, and very limited mail and newsgroup tools from supplied snap-ins that can be packaged, saved, and e-mailed to delegate tasks. IIS does SMTP mail, though it's a far cry from a functional e-mail server. Likewise, though you can create NNTP discussion groups, IIS won't replace a real news server.

Certificate Server manages X.509 digital certificates, now emerging as a requirement for Internet commerce, and maps these (or other third-party certificates) to NT accounts for secure access without a user name and password.

A browser-independent implementation of host headers allows ISP administrators to run multiple Web and FTP sites, with different host names and domains, from a single IP address. Support for HTTP 1.1 lets any client improve performance by exploiting pipelining and persistent connections. Administrators can allocate bandwidth so that popular sites don't throttle less-visited sites.

It appears Microsoft has done it again with IIS 4.0, packing in lots of must-have services that give you more reasons to buy NT. If they don't mind selling their souls to Microsoft, organizations deploying traditional client/server applications on the Web can now robustly and securely exploit Microsoft's ActiveX-based rapid application development tools.

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Where to Find

Internet Information Server 4.0...........a feature of Windows NT Server

Microsoft
Redmond, WA
Phone:    206-882-8080
Internet: 
http://www.microsoft.com

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IIS 4.0 Ratings

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Implementation	*	*	*	*	*
KEY:   ***** Outstanding; **** Very Good; *** Good; ** Fair; * Poor

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Go Global with IIS

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Internet Information Server 4.0 uses Microsoft Management Console to configure global Web site properties.

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Steve Gillmor is a consult ant for Southern Digital. You can send e-mail to him at sgillmor@southerndigital.com .