Installing the NNTP Service and Setting Up NNTP Virtual Servers (IIS 6.0)
The NNTP service is not installed by default. You must install the NNTP service using Control Panel, which creates a default NNTP configuration that you can customize using IIS Manager. For step-by-step instructions for installing the NNTP service, see NNTP Server Setup.
The NNTP service stores newsgroup articles on virtual servers with one or more directory hierarchies. Each virtual server has its own virtual directory or directories, which contain newsgroup articles, or messages, stored as files. In addition, the NNTP service involves other file types, which include internal files as well as the public newsgroup message files. When you install the NNTP service, a default NNTP virtual server configuration is created with a message store in SystemDrive:\Inetpub\Nntpfile\Root.
Virtual Servers
You can have multiple NNTP virtual servers running on IIS. Each virtual server has its own properties, expiration policies, and virtual directories. Create as many NNTP virtual servers as you need. Consider creating multiple virtual servers to host different types of newsgroups on the same server. For example, you might want to host internal departmental newsgroups on the same server with Internet-based customer service newsgroups. Because those newsgroups will have different settings, it is easiest to set them up on different virtual servers. However, if you have many different departmental newsgroups that have the same property settings, consider hosting all of them on the same virtual server.
Each virtual server should have a unique IP address/TCP port combination. Although it is possible to host multiple NNTP virtual servers on a single IP address by using a different TCP port for each one, this configuration is not recommended because users will have to configure their client software specifically to use the nonstandard TCP port.
File and Message Types
The NNTP service involves several file and message types, including:
| • | Message files. Message files are messages that are posted to newsgroups, receive an .nws extension, and are stored in the directory that the NNTP service creates for them. |
| • | Internal files. Users never see or use internal files, which are files that the NNTP service creates that list the subjects of the stored articles. These internal files have an .xix extension, and the NNTP service creates one subject file for every 128 articles in a newsgroup. The NNTP service also uses .tag files to mark folders as newsgroups or virtual roots. In addition, the NNTP service maintains a number of internal data structure files with .hsh, .hdr, .lst, and .txt extensions. These files are essential for the NNTP service; do not delete them. If you accidentally delete the internal files or if they become corrupted, you can restore them by rebuilding the NNTP service. For more information about rebuilding the NNTP service, see Rebuilding the NNTP Service. |
| • | Control messages. Control messages are specially formatted messages that direct the NNTP service to delete a specific article from a newsgroup or to add or delete an entire newsgroup. Control messages are stored in directories that the NNTP service creates. For more information about control messages, see Using Control Messages. |
When you create an NNTP virtual server, you are prompted to enter two directory paths: a path for internal files and a path for newsgroup message files. If possible, put these two paths on different disk partitions because the internal files can be corrupted if the disk partition runs out of disk space. Also, if you expect a high volume of traffic on your NNTP virtual server, you can place the files on a drive in a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) to improve performance.
Virtual Directories
A virtual directory is a directory on a local or remote disk drive that acts as the root of a part of the newsgroup hierarchy. Virtual directories enable you to store newsgroup files on multiple disk drives. Using more than one disk drive can improve the performance of a heavily used disk drive and can provide more storage. Virtual directories also enable you to change the physical location of the directory without changing the name of the newsgroup.
Virtual directories can be located on a local disk drive or on a network drive. However, if you store content in a remote location, then you must configure the remote computer with at least Read and Write permissions for the user name that you provide. Make sure that the remote location is secure and maintained by a trusted administrator. There is no advantage to creating a virtual directory on the same physical drive as the home directory. For step-by-step instructions for creating virtual directories, see Creating Virtual Directories in IIS 6.0.