Wise ASP - IIS Installation

Planning IIS Installation

   While Microsoft claims that any Pentium computer with 32MB of RAM is sufficient to run the Option Pack that includes Internet Information Server, even the Microsoft Management Console interface for managing IIS will feel incredibly slow. The actual amount of processing power and memory you need will depend on the traffic you plan to support, but a 200Mhz processor and 64MB of RAM is a reasonable minimum for any server hosting Active Server Pages for multiple simultaneous clients.

   The other key factors you'll need to consider are the Web server's role and position in your network. Typically, NT servers used for IIS are configured as plain servers, not as primary domain controllers or backup domain controllers. If someone breaks into your Web server, at least your security and account information is stored someplace else. You can, however, use a domain controller to run IIS if necessary, though performance and security may suffer.

   A large-scale ASP implementation will require oversight on a regular basis. The sooner you can bring in the network administrators, system administrators, developers, and content providers who will be involved in using your site, the better.

Installing IIS

   The Option Pack requires that its host server have Internet Explorer 4.01 or later and Windows NT Service Pack 3 or later installed before the installation of IIS. If you haven't installed these, download them if necessary and install them before attempting to install the Option Pack. (Service Pack 3 is offered as an option during the Option Pack download.)

   Once you have a copy of the Option Pack, you'll need to run the Option Pack Setup program (setup.exe) in the directory holding the Option Pack files. After the usual introduction and license acceptance screens, you may be asked if you want to Upgrade Only or Upgrade Plus, Select Upgrade Plus so you can make sure you've got all the parts you need. (You can always run the setup program again if you missed anything.)

   Next, you'll see the screen for selecting the components you want to install or remove. Even if you only downloaded Internet Information Server, you'll see a number of options at the top level, including Front Page Extensions, IIS itself, the Microsoft Data Access Components, the Microsoft Management Console (required), and the Microsoft Script Debugger.

   Most of these top-level pieces contain a number of subcomponents, which you can select by clicking the Show Subcomponents button when the component is highlighted. IIS itself contains a large number of subcomponents. You need to install the World Wide Web Server, which provides HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) services, and the Internet Service Manager to run Active Server Pages. The rest of the components are more or less optional. The SMTP server may be useful if your Web server will be sending out e-mail messages, you may need FTP to upload new files, and the NNTP server can handle basic newsgroup services if you need a news server for your site.

   The other area that deserves exploration is the Microsoft Data Access Components. If you don't plan to use a database in conjunction with your Active Server Pages, you don't need to install these, but typically you'll want to make sure that all the subcomponents in this area are selected.

   Once you've selected all the components and subcomponents for your needs, click the OK button. After decompressing and installing files, the setup program will need to restart your server. When it comes back up, Internet Information Server should be installed and running. :)

Managing IIS

   Windows NT, Internet Information Server, and Active Server Pages have had security problems exposed throughout the course of their development, but (hopefully) the current versions of these three critical tools are both safer and more stable than they have been in the past. Many holes have been sealed, though the nature of scripting makes it possible to reopen some of them. The tools are reasonably safe, but developers and administrators still need to be vigilant.

   The network architecture you use to connect your site to a public network (whether it is the Internet or an intranet) can provide a first line of defense against intruders. Depending on the scale of your site, a complete firewall solution, a simple proxy server, or some network configuration changes may be enough to protect your information while still allowing the Web server to have some connections to developers and critical resources like databases. The general approach involves closing down the connections your server will accept from the outside, limiting your server's risk.

Monitoring IIS

   Windows NT Server's Administrative Tools include Performance Monitor, a fairly simple (though highly configurable) piece of software for watching your server and its many processes. Internet Information Server and Active Server Pages connect directly into this framework, becoming components whose appetites for processing and memory can be closely watched. You can even run Performance Monitor remotely, tracking the performance of multiple computers over a network. (You need administrative privileges on those computers to do so, however.)

Related Information

• Microsoft's general site for information on Internet Information Server.
• If you have problems with Internet Information Server, you can search the Microsoft Knowledge Base.

  That's the end. Thanks for reading and feel free to jump around Wise ASP using the select box at the top of the screen.