Internet Information Services 5.1
Published: November 13, 2002
Windows XP Professional includes Internet Information Services (IIS) version 5.1, which makes it possible for you to host your own Web site on the Internet or your intranet.
Before you can use IIS, you must install it separately after you have installed Windows XP Professional on your computer. To add IIS, use the Add/Remove Programs dialog box in Control Panel on your Windows XP Professional-based computer. IIS is not available in Windows XP Home Edition.
IIS includes a broad range of administrative features for managing Web sites. With programmatic features like Active Server Pages (ASP), you can create and deploy scalable, flexible Web applications on the Internet or your intranet.
Other features of IIS 5.1 in Windows XP Professional include:
| • | Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in for managing IIS. The MMC task pad considerably simplifies the administration of your Web site. You can select the task you want to complete, and a wizard walks you through the steps. |
| • | The use of Remote Desktop technology for managing your Web site remotely. The Remote Desktop technology in Windows XP Professional lets administrators remotely administer IIS by using the MMC over a dial-up or PPTP connection. |
| • | Support for Active Server Pages. IIS support for ASP provides an easy-to-use alternative to Common Gateway Interface (CGI) and Internet Server Application Program Interface (ISAPI) by letting content developers embed any scripting language or server component into their HTML pages. ASP pages provide standards-based database connectivity and the ability to customize content for different browsers. ASP also provides error-handling capabilities for Web-based applications. |
| • | Up-to-the-minute security features. For more information about IIS security, and to make sure your IIS software is updated, visit the Technet IIS Security page. |
| • | Improved metabase backup and restore functions. You can back up and save metabase settings to make it easy to return to a safe, known state. (A metabase is the structure for storing IIS configuration settings; the metabase performs some of the same functions as the system registry, but uses less disk space.) |
| • | More extensive support for Web folders using Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV). WebDAV is an Internet standard that lets multiple people collaborate on a document using an Internet-based shared file system. |
| • | Web Folders let users maintain a consistent look and feel between navigating the local file system, a networked drive, and an Internet Web site. |
| • | With FrontPage Server Extensions, administrators can view and manage a Web site in a graphical interface, so creating Web sites with the FrontPage Web site creation and management tool is as easy as clicking a check box on a property page for the Web site. |
| • | Administrators can use Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP) Services to set up intranet mail and news services that work in conjunction with IIS. |
IIS 5.1 for Windows XP Professional is designed for users developing a Web service for home or for office use. It can service only 10 simultaneous client connections, only one Web site, and it does not have all the features of the server versions. IIS replaces the Personal Web Service (PWS), which was found in earlier client versions of Windows. PWS cannot be upgraded to run with Windows XP.
IIS 5.1 in Windows XP Professional provides several enhancements to the version in Windows 2000 Professional. For a discussion of the changes in IIS 5.1, read this article by Brett Hill in the IIS Community Center.
