Internet Information Server Hardware Guidelines

The type of processor and the amount of RAM you choose for your system can affect the performance of your server. For example, in laboratory conditions an 80486DX/50 computer with 52 MB of RAM running Microsoft Windows NT Server and Internet Information Server can handle more than 100 simultaneous users or sessions.

The number of simultaneous users your server can handle varies according to the type of session that is open and other factors. A server is able to accommodate more users when they are running sessions that are not processor-intensive, such as electronic mail (e-mail), Telnet, and FTP. Sessions that are processor-intensive include those that run Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts, make database queries, and download Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) files.

Table 2.3 lists the minimum and recommended hardware needed to run Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 and Internet Information Server.

Table 2.3 Hardware Requirements and Recommendations

Hardware requirement

Minimum

Recommended

Processor

50 MHz 486

90 MHz Pentium®

RAM

16 MB

32 to 64 MB

Free hard disk space

50

200

Monitor

VGA

Super VGA

CD-ROM drive

3X

6X


RAM

The amount of RAM needed by your server is dependent on a number of factors, including:

Taking into consideration all of these variables, a general guideline is to allow about 256K of RAM per simultaneous user.

www.microsoft.com

The Web site for Microsoft, www.microsoft.com, handles three million requests a day. In a 24-hour time period, this averages more than 2,000 hits per minute.

The www.microsoft.com Web site consists of two computers running Internet Information Server on Microsoft Windows NT Server. Each computer has multiple 66-MHz Intel Pentium processors, 8 GB of usable hard disk space, and 128 MB of RAM. One computer uses four Pentium processors and the other uses two.