Timothy
Parker Consulting Incorporated
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Using NT's IIS Last column we used O'Reilly's WebSite Professional to manage the Web traffic on our own server. This column we look at the built-in Web server that comes with Windows NT Server: Internet Information Services (IIS). With the last version of Windows NT Server, IIS was an add-on package you had to purchase separately. Hoping to position NT as the Web-server platform of choice, Microsoft wisely bundled IIS as part of the NT 4.0 Server system. If you decide you have the horsepower to run NT Server properly, then having IIS as part of the softyware distribution helps lower costs since you don't have to buy third-party software. There are two primary problems with using IIS. First is that it runs only on Windows NT Server. Server is the expensive package of the Windows NT family, of course, and you can't run IIS on a Windows NT Workstation system properly. (Actually, you can run IIS on a Workstation system, but there are limits to the connections and client services provided which effectively make it unusable for us.) So, you need to purchase NT Server and the supporting hardware to run the Web site. Figure on a fast Pentium and 64MB RAM for a standard simple site. That starts to get expensive when you're trying to set up your site on a budget. The second problem with IIS is that it's good as a Web server, but not as good as third-party packages like O'Reilly's WebSite Professional. The administration and configuration routines are not as clean, and there is no built-in Web home page design toolkit. IIS also is really a Web server only, although it can handle other TCP protocols. It's not a good FTP server, though, so if you want to provide anonymous FTP access to your server you need another package. Luckily there are some excellent shareware FTP servers available. Assuming you have Windows NT Server and the machine to support it, IIS isn't that big a deal. Installing the software is straight-forward: it can be installed as part of the initial software load when you install NT, or an icon on the desktop or the usual setup routine can add it in the future. The lack of solid documentation (in fact, the lack of any documentation) is a problem, unless you like browsing on-line help (I don't) and experimenting (not a good use of your time). Your alternatives are to buy a book or manual on the subject, or get someone who knows how to do the setup and configuration. It does only take a few minutes to install IIS properly, but you have to know the steps. Configuring the system after you are ready to go is a little more time-consuming and often frustrating, but patience helps. You also need all your Web home pages ready to be linked in before your site is ready for the world. As mentioned, there is no HTML layout tool included with IIS. You can use add-ons to packages like Corel WordPerfect and Microsoft Word to generate HTML code from your layout, or you can use a fancy shareware or commercial package. We'll be looking at code generators and layout tools in a future column. Putting your code in the right directories can be difficult if you didn't keep track of the IIS directory structure, and it's sometimes hard to set up proper hierarchies if you want to have different directories containing your site code, but it can be done. So, you have IIS installed, your modem or other connection to the ISP is ready, and your home pages are set to be loaded by the throngs waiting to visit your site. Trouble is, nothing ever goes quite as smoothly as it should with IIS and NT. I've set up at least a dozen sites, and ever time there's some little niggly problem that has to be addressed. Maybe I'm just sloppy (or old), but talking to others who install IIS seems to indicate that this is not a case of me screwing up different components every time. The primary problem I usually encounter with IIS is security. Windows NT Server has excellent security features built in, but when you install a package that essentially opens your machine to the outside world (and perhaps your entire LAN, too), you need to be sure everything is set just right. IIS does have good protection for your system, usually managed by restricting access from the Web to limited directories. However, there have been several reports on the Web of holes in both NT Server and IIS that a miscreant can exploit to gain access to your system and anything connected to it. In the early release of NT 4.0 Server, there were holes that were widely known and exploited. Microsoft has been good about patching the problems with updates and guidelines for closing non-software holes, but you have to spend the time to get all the patches and documents. You will have to spend a few hours on the Microsoft Web site, as well as cruising the Web looking for information on buttoning up your server. Is IIS good enough to run your Web server? Certainly. Is it better than other third-party packages like WebSite Professional? No. Given the overhead in machine power and cost of the software, I'd be tempted to install on a Windows 95 machine using WebSite Professional unless you expect to have a busy site. Cheaper, easier, and better for light loads. |
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