Microsoft Releases More Valuable IIS 6.0 Information

In the previous commentaries "The IIS 6.0 Deployment Guide"( http://www.winnetmag.com/windowsserver2003/index.cfm?articleid=39265 ) and "The IIS 6.0 Resource Kit" ( http://www.winnetmag.com/windowsserver2003/index.cfm?articleid=39329 ), I wrote about Microsoft's release of the "Windows Server 2003 Deployment Kit: Deploying Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0"--known as the IIS 6.0 Deployment Guide--and the "IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools." Both are excellent resources and are available free from Microsoft. In this commentary, I want to tell you about Microsoft's release of a third part of its suite of free offerings with the "Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Resource Kit," which debuted on July 29. But first, let me tell you about the enhancements to the IIS 6.0 Deployment Guide and the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools.

Since I last wrote about the IIS 6.0 Deployment Guide, Microsoft has released an updated version. Written in how-to format, the IIS 6.0 Deployment Guide provides deployment scenarios such as installing a new IIS Web server, upgrading a Web server from an earlier version of IIS, and migrating existing Apache or IIS Web sites and applications to a newly installed IIS Web server.

The IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools let you query log files, deploy Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates, employ custom site authentication, verify permissions, troubleshoot problems, migrate your server, run Web application stress tests, and more. The new version of the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools includes two new tools: the IIS 6.0 Migration Tool and the Apache to IIS 6.0 Migration Tool.

The new third part of the Microsoft's suite, the IIS 6.0 resource kit, is a 978-page resource. Section one is the updated version of the IIS 6.0 Deployment Guide. Section two is the IIS 6.0 resource kit, which includes valuable, downloadable administrator tools. The Resource Kit section features topics to teach you how to run IIS 6.0 as a platform for Web applications, manage a secure IIS 6.0 solution, administer servers programmatically, and capitalize on built-in scalability features to manage large-scale deployments. This section thoroughly explores IIS 6.0 troubleshooting concepts, tools, scripting tips and tricks, and procedures.

Microsoft's intent for the resource kit is to assist the IIS administrator in effectively planning, deploying, operating, and troubleshooting IIS 6.0. The resource kit provides an in-depth description of IIS 6.0 architecture as well as information about IIS 6.0's features and services that you can use to accomplish everyday administrative tasks. The IIS 6.0 resource kit is a fantastic book that contains invaluable expert information from the IIS development team. If you're an IIS administrator running IIS 6.0 or if you're considering an IIS 6.0 migration, you must read this book. You can download the IIS 6.0 resource kit by chapter or in its entirety as a compressed .zip file at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=80a1b6e6-829e-49b7-8c02-333d9c148e69&displaylang=en

You can download the IIS 6.0 Deployment Guide at

http://microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=f31a5fd5-03db-46d2-9f34-596edd039eb9&displaylang=en#filelist

You can download the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools at

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=56fc92ee-a71a-4c73-b628-ade629c89499&displaylang=en