Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft® Internet Information Server (IIS) Web Services is the Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) server for Microsoft Windows NT® Server. The HTTP server listens for Web-client requests, and returns the appropriate files from the file system or the output of an Active Server Page (ASP), Internet server application programming interface (ISAPI) application, or CGI application.
IIS Web Services can be used by anyone wanting a Web Server for Windows NT Server. It is the core Web server technology for Internet Information Server, and required for all of the other components.
The Web Services for IIS 3.0 includes several ease-of-use improvements. The most visible is an "Internet" tab for the Windows Explorer properties dialog box. This allows for virtual roots to be managed in a manner similar to file sharing and file permissions. IIS 3.0 also now supports multiple default documents.
Yes. Internet Information Server fully supports the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) HTTP 1.0 standard for Web servers.
IIS can log to a text file or to any Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) database. A text log can be in a customizable standard format or National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) common log format. Logs can be automatically rotated on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, or when the file reaches a certain size. IIS 3.0 also includes Crystal Reports for analyzing your log files on the fly, with several prebuilt reports using Active Server Pages.
Since the first release of the Windows NT platform in 1993, Microsoft has followed a strategy of providing the same kernel architecture, user interface, and application programming interface (API) across both the Windows NT Workstation and Server products, while optimizing, pricing, and licensing the products for two specific segments—the interactive desktop operating system and the high performance server. Consistent with that strategy, the Windows NT 4.0 platform is available in two versions: Windows NT Server 4.0 and Windows NT Workstation 4.0.
Microsoft Peer Web Services (PWS) is the feature set in Window NT Workstation that enables easy publication of personal Web pages. PWS makes it easy for users to share information on their corporate intranets and is ideal for developing, testing, and staging Web applications, as well as peer-to-peer publishing.
The Internet Information Server (IIS) is an integrated Web server with a complete set of tools for creating, managing, and finding information in any format. Since it's part of Windows NT Server, IIS is the fastest and most secure Web Server available. IIS uses the user directory and file permissions in Windows NT Server and all Microsoft BackOffice® applications.
Please see the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/ntwvnts.htm) for a detailed discussion of the differences between Windows NT Server and Windows NT Workstation.
Internet Information Server gives developers a choice of technologies for implementing their solutions. Active Server Pages (ASP) allows applications to be built with Microsoft ActiveX™ server components, These server-side objects can be developed in most any language, including Microsoft Visual Basic®, C++, Java, and COBOL. Because ASP applications are built using these components and standard scripting languages such as Microsoft Visual Basic, Scripting Edition (VBScript) and Jscript™, most any Web user can create dynamic content. The ISAPI exposes the functions of the Web server to experienced developers who wish to write high-performance custom applications using the Microsoft Win32 API® or filters that intercept and act upon the HTTP stream.
IIS is a service of the Windows NT Server operating system, and thus only runs on Windows NT Server. However, IIS is able to serve information from any file server that can connect to Windows NT Server. This includes UNIX and Novell NetWare servers. IIS is also browser-neutral, and can serve any HTTP standard client on any platform.
Yes. IIS 3.0 supports both Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 2 and SSL 3.
IIS is the only Web server integrated in the Windows NT Server operating system. This means that IIS takes full advantage of the security and richness of Windows NT services such as the file system and directory. This means intranet users only need to log in to their network once, and the Web server will automatically use the same file and group permissions as the existing file, print, and application servers.
Yes. The Internet paradigm of accessing any type of information over the network is placing an increasing demand on Web servers that are playing numerous roles such as file serving, searching, and running applications.