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Q180677: New Features in IIS 4.0

Article: Q180677
Product(s): Internet Information Server
Version(s): WINNT:4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 28-APR-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0 
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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
   ----------  ----------------------------------------------------------

  Q163485 Active Server Pages Script Appears in Browser
  Q163761 ASP Page Not Update Even if File Included in it Has Been Changed
  Q165335 Active Server Pages: Progressive Memory Leak
  Q166081 ASP Page Not Update Even if ASP File on UNC Virtual Dir. Changed
  Q166082 ASP Page Not Update Even if File Included Is Changed
  Q170856 IIS Log File May Be Truncated When Logging to Text File
  Q172217 ASP Returns Invalid Application Name Error Message
  Q173965 Max Number of SQL Statements Reached in IDC
  Q179091 Multi-threaded Java Programs Stop on Multi-processor Computers
  Q170852 Access Denied to Subdirectory w/ Windows NT Challenge/Response

Additional query words: upgrade upgrading

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbiisSearch kbiis400
Version           : WINNT:4.0
Issue type        : kbhowto kbinfo

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