Microsoft KB Archive/180677

= New Features in Internet Information Server (IIS) Version 4.0 =

Article ID: 180677

Article Last Modified on 6/30/2006

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0

-



This article was previously published under Q180677



We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6.0 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003. IIS 6.0 significantly increases Web infrastructure security. For more information about IIS security-related topics, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx



SUMMARY
Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) version 4.0 contains many improvements. In addition to resolving many of reported issues in IIS 3.0, IIS 4.0 offers improvements in the areas of application stability and server management.



MORE INFORMATION
The following is a summary of new features added to IIS 4.0 in the areas of application stability and server management, and a list of articles that discuss known IIS 3.0 issue resolutions. For more information, see the "Quick Tour of Features" in the online Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack Documentation.

Application Stability

 * Process isolation

Web Applications can be hosted in an environment that protects the core Web services from poorly written applications. Isolated Web Applications each run within their own Mtx.exe process. In the past, all ASP applications ran within a single Inetinfo.exe process.
 * Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) integration

Multiple steps and components can now be packaged into transactions that succeed or fail as a whole. In IIS 3.0, ASP handled its own thread and memory management within Asp.dll. IIS 4.0 takes advantage of the improved resource usage and thread management in MTS, which allows Web application developers to write scalable applications using the MTS foundation.
 * Improved database stack

Version 4.0 of IIS has an entirely new database stack that is of much better quality than the previous release, and includes an improved thread-safe Oracle driver.
 * ISAPI filtering by Web site

Each Web site on the server can have a different set of ISAPI filters. ISAPI filters are programs that are executed when a given Web server event occurs.
 * ASP Debugging

IIS 4.0 includes an Active Server Pages debugger that is integrated with the core ASP services. With this tool you can set breakpoints and step through ASP code. Previously, in IIS 3.0, the only way to debug your ASP code was to use Response.Write to send the information to the HTML output.
 * VBScript and Jscript

Version 3.0 of the Scripting engines provide enhanced capabilities such as Directory Creation, File and Directory Deletion and the ability to determine disk information (for example, the amount of free space and similar values).
 * New Java VM

Support has been added for JDK 1.1 as has the ability to make calls to Java components from ASP scripts.
 * Message Queuing

Web applications using ASP can store data until a guaranteed connection is made with the targeted Web application through the use of message queuing. This has a significant impact on electronic commerce if it uses unreliable networks.

Server Management

 * Virtual servers using one IP address and host header names

Unique virtual Web servers can now be set up using the same IP address and different names. Each virtual server can be controlled independently of each other.
 * HTML administration

IIS 4.0 includes a full-featured Web-based administration utility to manage the server remotely.
 * Improved metatag integration

Many functions that could only be done via metatags (expires, pic ratings, custom headers) can now be down with the core server.
 * Customizable error messages

Error messages can be customized to improve the customer (end user of Web sites) experience.
 * Command line administration

The same functionality found in the administration interfaces for IIS 4.0 is now available through command line administration. This allows for easy ASP scripting of administrative tasks.
 * Unattended installations

Customized installations can be implemented by using scripts to upgrade and install multiple servers.
 * Integrated setup

Unlike IIS 3.0, IIS 4.0 offers an integrated setup for all of the components of the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack.
 * Site Server Express

Tools are included for analyzing content and Web usage as well as for posting files through the components of Site Server Express. The Content Analyzer, Usage Import, Report Writer, and Posting Acceptor modules make up the components of Site Server Express.
 * Flexible logging

There are now over 20 properties that can be logged for the Web server. Included are server name, server IP and port, bytes sent and received, time taken, and many more.

IIS 3.0 Issue Resolutions
Many bug fixes for IIS 3.0 are included in IIS 4.0, including all hotfixes to Active Server Pages (ASP) and core services. The following list is a sample of known issues which are resolved in IIS 4.0.

   Article ID  Article Title -- --

163761 ASP Page Not Update Even if File Included in it Has Been Changed

165335 Active Server Pages: Progressive Memory Leak

166081 ASP Page Not Update Even if ASP File on UNC Virtual Dir. Changed

166082 ASP Page Not Update Even if File Included Is Changed

170856 IIS Log File May Be Truncated When Logging to Text File

172217 ASP Returns Invalid Application Name Error Message

173965 Max Number of SQL Statements Reached in IDC

179091 Multi-threaded Java Programs Stop on Multi-processor Computers

Additional query words: upgrade upgrading

Keywords: kbhowto kbinfo KB180677

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.