Windows Server 2003 Application Server Technologies

This MSDN Developer Center provides resources to get you up to speed building applications using the .NET Framework.

The ASP.NET Developer Center on MSDN has links to content that will teach you everything you need to know to write dynamic, high-performance Web applications.

IIS 6.0 leverages the latest Web standards such as Microsoft ASP.NET, XML, and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) for the development, implementation, and management of Web applications.

Learn about Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) and how it allows applications running at different times to talk across networks and systems that may be offline.

Windows includes transaction managers to coordinate transactions that update two or more transaction-aware resources. Transaction-aware resources might include databases, message queues, legacy transaction processing systems, or even file systems. The DTC can coordinate transactions across these resources, whether they are local or distributed across multiple networked computers.

Enterprise Component Services provides a container or host for components, and a set of runtime services for hosted components, to deliver additional capabilities. These services include queued invocation of components, object pooling, transactions, just-in-time activation, and more. Enterprise Component Services can extend additional capabilities and flexibility to designers of large applications.

Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) provides a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory service. You can run ADAM on servers running Microsoft Windows Server(TM) 2003 and also on clients running Microsoft Windows XP Professional. ADAM provides data storage and retrieval for directory-enabled applications, without the dependencies that are required for the Active Directory service.

Authorization Manager provides a flexible framework for extracting role-based access control from applications, and managing that access control externally to the application. In this way, access control decision rules can be removed from the application logic and managed and maintained independently of application code.

Active Directory Federation Services, a component of Windows Server 2003 R2, enables Extranet Single Sign-On (SSO), Identity Federation, and access control. With ADFS, you can share identity information across security-enhanced boundaries, providing business partners with personalized experiences on Web applications hosted in your enterprise.

This paper describes the comprehensive Microsoft enterprise application development platform for building connected systems. It describes the core components of this platform, including the support for core standards and service orientation that allow each element to interoperate with elements provided by different software vendors.

This whitepaper introduces the guiding principles and thoughts behind the .NET Framework, the core features of the Common Language Runtime and its supporting Framework Base Class Libraries, and how it is evolving in the next major version.

This document describes Enterprise Component Services , and explains how the Microsoft platform provides the underlying infrastructure to ensure data consistency across multiple databases, ensure data consistency across independently created business objects, and to allow for asynchronous messaging across disparate platforms.

This paper provides a technical overview of ASP.NET, including a discussion in greater detail of how ASP.NET delivers value to developers, administrators, and users today. Along the way, the paper will also describe how ASP.NET fits into existing heterogeneous enterprise environments; the innovative control-based ASP.NET model that powers the productivity boost; how ASP.NET makes Web services easy; and how the version 2.0 of ASP.NET will advance the state of the art even further.

These resources help developers get a head start on creating applications for the Windows Server 2003 platform.

Learn about all versions of Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ), download tools, and talk to others about this communication technology that allows applications running at different times to talk across networks and systems that might be offline.

Here is the help you need to get started using the next generation of Web infrastructure capabilities in the Windows Server 2003 family

The .NET Framework is the application framework developers can use to rapidly build and connecting XML Web services, server-side business logic, and Web solutions. The .NET Framework provides APIs to access the application server function within Windows Server, as well as a runtime environment for server-side programs.

This webcast addresses management of the .NET Framework, especially management of various versions within an organization. It looks at differences between releases 1.0 and 1.1 and considers how to manage applications that use 1.0 or require 1.1. The seminar reviews the tools available to manage the Framework, covers basics and best practices for configuration files, and looks at the methods for monitoring the Framework and ASP.NET applications.

Learn how to monitor and stress test Web applications, the two essential methods of profiling performance. Explore optimizations for key performance considerations like data access, server controls, and caching. This session will provide real-world techniques that you can apply immediately to your new or existing ASP.NET 1.1 sites running on Windows Server 2003.

Learn how Active Directory Federation Services, a component of Windows Server 2003 R2, enables Extranet Single Sign-On (SSO), Identity Federation, and access control. With ADFS, you can share identity information across security-enhanced boundaries, providing personalized behavior in applications you share with business partners, with low administrative complexity.

This document describes important tuning parameters and settings that you may want to customize to help improve performance in various workloads.