Managing the Migration Process

Interoperation Plan

For various reasons, you might decide to make the transition to IIS 5.0 in phases, migrating only one Web server or group of servers at a time. This process can result in a mixture of platforms and Web servers operating on the same network for a period of time. If your planned server environment will be mixed, you need to develop a strategy that allows the different servers to interoperate, or coexist, on your network; the servers must also work in concert to provide Web services. This entails considering the best way to integrate the different components of the IIS 5.0 solution into your existing service environment, which is the combination of physical servers, network connections, software, and services or functions.

This strategy can be incorporated in an interoperation plan. Depending on your particular environment and needs, your plan might address the following issues:

Enabling file sharing between UNIX- and Windows-based platforms
Establishing common methods and policies for administering multiple Web server technologies
Implementing common security methods and password synchronization

This section provides references to helpful information in these areas. In addition, Microsoft as well as third-party vendors offer a variety of tools and solutions for implementing a mixed server environment. For more information about tools, and for URLs to interoperation resources, see Migrating a Web Server to IIS 5.0 in this book.