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Microsoft
Internet Information Services
Copyright 2019, Faulkner Information Services. All
Rights Reserved.
Docid: 00018212
Publication Date: 1905
Report Type: PRODUCT
Preview
Internet Information Services (IIS), formerly known as Internet
Information Server, is Microsoft’s Web server for use with the Windows NT
family. IIS contains a modular
architecture that enables the addition or removal of sectors for
customization purposes. IIS is based upon Windows Process Activation
Service, which allows for the use of other protocols besides HTTPS and
HTTP. Currently in version 10.0, this report focuses on the key features and functions of IIS
7 and above.
Report Contents:
- Description
Related Faulkner Reports- Vendor
- Applications
- Environment
- Support
- Pricing
- Competitors
- Web Links
Description
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Previously known as Microsoft’s Internet Information Server, Internet
Information Services (IIS) is an extensible Web server from Microsoft that
is used with the Windows NT family. IIS supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS,
SMTP, and NNTP. IIS can be used for hosting anything on the Web.
Related Faulkner Reports |
Microsoft Company Profile |
IIS offers functionality in several
areas:
- Choice
- Control
- Reliability
- Security
Vendor |
Name: Microsoft Headquarters One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052-7329 Phone: (425) 882-8080 Fax: (425) 706-7329 Web: https://www.microsoft.com/ Type of Vendor: Operating System and Application Software Provider Founded: 1975 Service Areas: Global Stock Symbol: MSFT (NASDAQ) |
Internet Information Systems is built upon a request-processing
architecture that offers the following:
- The Windows Process Activation Service (WAS), which allows sites to
use other protocols besides HTTP and HTTPS. - A customizable Web server engine that allows for the addition or
removal of modules. - A system of request processing based upon pipelines from IIS and
ASP.NET.
An administrative tool is tasked with querying, adding, or removing
modules from IIS. Modules may be removed if they are no longer usable on
the server or if they require replacement with another module.
In earlier versions of IIS, most functionality was restricted to the
server. Beginning with IIS 7, administrators can control which modules they want on
the server and which features they want removed.
IIS offers the following benefits:
- Centralized Web farm management – Centrally deploy and manage the
configuration and content across a Web server farm. - Delegated remote management – Enables administration tasks to be delegated
to site owners while basic configuration and management tasks are handled
without admin intervention. - Administrative tools – Various tools, including managed code and scripting
APIs, simplify daily administrative tasks. - Web infrastructure – Built-in HTTP-based load balancing and request
handling and routing enables the implementation of scalable Web
infrastructure. - Dynamic caching and compression – HTTP compression delivers better
performance for static and dynamic Web content. - Diagnostic tools – Enables quick diagnosis of server and application
issues and simplifies troubleshooting. - Server protection – Uses minimal Web server footprint and automatic
application to improve Web server security. - Access protection – URL authorization rules and request filtering protect
against malicious requests and other threats.
Table 1 depicts the components and modules that comprise IIS.
IIS 7.0 and Above |
|
---|---|
Components |
IIS 7.0 features several components that perform critical functions for Protocol Listeners. Protocol listeners receive protocol-specific HTTP.sys. The HTTP.sys listens for HTTP requests from the World Wide Web Publishing Service. The WWW Service acts as a Windows Process Activation Service. WAS manages application pool |
Native Modules |
The native modules for IIS are included with a full installation of the HTTP Modules. These modules respond to information and inquiries Security Modules. Some modules handle tasks designed for Content Modules. These modules process requests for static Compression Modules. The dynamic compression and static Caching Modules. Caching improves performance of your Logging and Diagnostics Modules. The logging modules support Managed Support Modules. Consists of the managed engine and |
Managed Modules | In addition to the native modules, IIS offers managed modules to provide enhanced functions. Some of these managed modules (i.e. URL authorization) have a native module counterpart that provides a native alternative to the managed module. The managed modules are only offered with a full installation of IIS 7 and above. The managed modules are: anonymous identification, default authentication, file authorization, forms authentication, output cache, profile, role manager, session, URL authorization, URL mappings module, and Windows authentication. |
IIS 10.0 Version 1709
IIS 10.0 Version 1709 is the latest version, which shipped with Windows 10
Fall Creators Update and Windows Server 2016 Version 1709. This version was
announced in October 2017. Features include:
- HTTP Strict Transport Security – This feature lets a Web site
declare itself as a secure host and to inform browsers that it should only
be contacted through HTTPS connections. - Container enhancements – The IIS worker process can now be run
directly. Changes have also been made to the Central Certificate Provider to
run in containers. - IIS Administration PowerShell Cmdlets – Improvements have been made
as well as the roll out of three additional cmdlets. - Logging enhancements – Microsoft introduced new server variables
for the Cryptographic Protocol, the Cipher algorithm, the Key Exchange
Algorithm, and the Message Authentication Algorithm.
IIS Version 10.0
IIS 10.0 was rolled out in November 2016 and ships with Windows 10 and Windows
Server 2016. The notable features in IIS 10.0 are:
- IIS on Nano Server – IIS is now available as a role on Nano
Server. IIS for Nano supports both online (i.e. when the machine is
running) and offline (i.e. when the machine is not running) installs.
Nano Server is a remotely administered server operating system for
private clouds and data centers and only supports 64-bit applications,
tools, and agents. It is similar to Windows Server, but is
smaller. - IIS in Containers – Support has been added for containers
which are isolated, resource controlled, and portable operating
environments. - Microsoft IIS Administration – This REST API allows for the
configuration and monitoring of the IIS instance. It is an open source
project currently in development on GitHub. - Wildcard Host Header Support – Wildcard Host Headers enable
administrators to set up a Web server for a domain so that the Web
server can provide requests for any subdomain. - IISAdministration PowerShell Cmdlets – This feature
includes a PowerShell module for managing IIS along with access to the
ServerManager object. - HTTP/2 on IIS – With HTTP/2, a major upgrade to HTTP/1, which
allows for a persistent connection to be used to service multiple
simultaneous requests. IIS supports HTTP/2 over TLS. - CPU Optimization for NUMA Hardware – Includes improved
performance on NUMA hardware through the IIS thread pool ideal CPU
optimization.
Applications
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Microsoft IIS is a Web platform that is designed for developers who are looking
to create a Web site or a business that
hosts or develops Web sites or Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services. Companies in various industries
including software engineering, IT, education, retail, and hosting/application
service providers have utilized IIS to address expanding infrastructure
requirements and improve performance.
Environment
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Table 2 lists the Windows Server 2016
operating requirements. IIS comes
bundled with Windows Server.
Support | Description |
---|---|
Processor |
|
Memory |
|
Disk Space |
|
Support
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Support is available through the Microsoft Server Support Center which offers
contracts for businesses for all vendor products. Without a contract, companies
can opt for a la carte services that begin at $99 for email support.
In addition, IIS’ Web site consists of various self-help options in the
form of blogs, forums, community tools and tips, and the IIS Learning
Center. Users of IIS are free to browse the topics and pose questions
to Microsoft support engineers.
Pricing
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IIS is licensed as part of Windows NT, and as such, cannot be priced as an
individual component. IIS 10 is included with Windows 10 and Windows Server
2016.
Competing Products
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IIS’s top competition comes from Apache’s
Web Server and Nginx.
Web Links
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- Apache Software Foundation: https://apache.org/
- Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/
- Nginx: https://nginx.com/
About the
Author
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report]
Karen M. Spring is a staff editor for Faulkner Information
Services, tracking high-tech industries, including network security, data
breaches and cybercriminal activity, CRM, network management, Internet security,
and software tools. She writes regularly on high-tech topics for publications in
the k-12 and higher education industry. Previously, Ms. Spring was a marketing
specialist for two computer distributors, working closely with such clients as
3Com, IBM, Okidata, Unisys, and Acer.
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