Windows Web Solutions UPDATE, May 6, 2003

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Windows Web Solutions UPDATE--brought to you by Windows Web Solutions, the Windows & .NET Magazine print newsletter with tools and solutions for managing your Web site. http://www.windowswebsolutions.com

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~~~~ THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY ~~~~

Invotion http://www.invotion.com/index.asp?redirect=10464

Windows & .NET Magazine http://www.winnetmag.com/rd.cfm?code=edwi203dup (below COMMENTARY)

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~~~~ SPONSOR: INVOTION ~~~~

Invotion http://www.invotion.com/index.asp?redirect=10464

Invotion provides advanced Microsoft hosting solutions to Microsoft developers, supporting only the latest in Microsoft technologies including Windows 2003, Commerce Server, Exchange Server, SQL Server and BizTalk. In addition, Invotion was the first to support a True VPS built in the Windows 2003 environment. Rather than simply isolating a website using IIS, Invotion's True VPS plan gives clients access to areas of a Windows VPS server that have typically only been available in the dedicated hosting environment, including terminal server access, a custom install of Windows 2003 and rebooting capabilities. http://www.invotion.com/index.asp?redirect=10464

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May 6, 2003--In this issue:

1. COMMENTARY - Windows 2003 Scores High Performance Marks

2. KEEPING UP WITH IIS - Scheduling IIS Restarts - Results from Last Issue's Instant Poll: Windows Server 2003 Launch - This Issue's Instant Poll: Performance Metrics

3. ANNOUNCEMENTS - Time Is Running Out to Join Our Storage Solutions Road Show! - Microsoft TechEd 2003 Europe, June 30 - July 4, Barcelona

4. RESOURCE - Featured Thread: Proxy 2.0 Network Address Translation (NAT)

5. NEW AND IMPROVED - Create XML Content in a Familiar Environment - Submit Top Product Ideas

6. CONTACT US - See this section for a list of ways to contact us.

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COMMENTARY

(contributed by Tim Huckaby, [email protected])

* WINDOWS 2003 SCORES HIGH PERFORMANCE MARKS Although Microsoft's marketing machine has focused on the security, scalability, and interoperability benefits of Windows Server 2003, the new server product's performance story--which independent tests recently verified--is compelling, particularly for Web administrators. VeriTest, an independent test lab, did performance testing on Windows Server 2003 and found that the new OS outperforms Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 by a dramatic margin--typically running two to three times as fast on the same hardware. Compared with NT Server 4.0, Windows 2003 is on average two times as fast at serving files, three times as fast at serving dynamic Web content, and four times as fast at serving static Web content.

If you're looking for ammunition you can use to convince those above you in the org chart that you need to migrate from NT to Windows 2003, this performance data will help dramatically. You can find a summary of the VeriTest results, including a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, at the first URL below. For the entire suite of performance metrics and benchmarks, including Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC) benchmark tests, click the second URL below. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/performance/etest.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/windows2003/performance.asp

Third-party performance metrics are interesting, of course. But relating them to your environment in the trenches is difficult because such tests are performed on millions of dollars' worth of cutting-edge hardware. Furthermore, although performance is at the top of the list of features for many Web applications, it's not an important feature for everyone--the features that are most important for every company in today's economy are cost and total cost of ownership (TCO). In rebuilding Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 from scratch, Microsoft made it dramatically faster. But does the raw speed of IIS 6.0 do anything for your bottom line? If you consider the opportunity for server consolidation, it does.

Improved performance is just one byproduct of redoing IIS. In IIS 6.0, Microsoft separated key services to give IIS 6.0 the fault tolerance it so desperately needed. In IIS 5.0 and earlier, a simple developer mistake can bring the entire server down, along with every Web application. Now, you can run thousands of Web sites and applications on IIS 6.0 on new, inexpensive hardware without worrying that one mistake will bring your entire production system down.

For many companies, the server consolidation opportunities in Windows 2003 are driving the migration to IIS 6.0. Consider ISPs or application service providers (ASPs), for which server consolidation is a primary ingredient of the business model. Hosting numerous IIS applications from different companies is difficult. If you're hosting applications for both Ford and General Motors, you don't want one application taking down the other because of a developer's mistake. Before IIS 6.0, this scenario was especially difficult.

MaximumASP ( http://www.maximumasp.com ) is a cutting-edge ASP that hosted IIS 6.0 for its customers even before IIS 6.0 shipped in beta form. "IIS 6.0 facilitates unlimited IIS application roots within their own isolated processes while still managing a finite number of server processes," said Chris Page, chief technology information officer of MaximumASP. "The bottom line is that our customers get more performance, more scalability, and fault tolerance for free--simply by tuning their Web applications on our IIS 6.0 Web servers." Page told me that his company had more than 100 customer Web applications running on IIS 6.0 when Windows 2003 shipped on April 24. "The migration to IIS 6.0 is great on both our bottom line and our customers."

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KEEPING UP WITH IIS

* SCHEDULING IIS RESTARTS Question: We want to restart our Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 server at scheduled intervals. How do you recommend we do this? For the answer, click the following link: http://www.winnetmag.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=37944

* RESULTS FROM LAST ISSUE'S INSTANT POLL: WINDOWS SERVER 2003 LAUNCH The voting has closed in the Windows & .NET Magazine Windows Web Solutions channel's nonscientific Instant Poll for the question, "Do you plan on attending one of the many free nationwide Windows Server 2003 launch events?" Here are the results from the 64 responses: - 52% Yes - 9% I'd probably go if I knew more about it. - 39% No, I don't plan on attending.

* THIS ISSUE'S INSTANT POLL: PERFORMANCE METRICS The next Instant Poll question is, "Will Windows Server 2003's performance metrics influence your company's decision to migrate?" Go to the Windows & .NET Magazine Windows Web Solutions home page and submit your vote for a) Yes or b) No. http://www.windowswebsolutions.com

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine and its partners)

* TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO JOIN OUR STORAGE SOLUTIONS ROAD SHOW! Attend the HP & Microsoft Network Storage Solutions Road Show, and learn how existing and future storage solutions can save your company money--and make your job easier! Attendees have lots of chances to win incredible prizes. There is absolutely no fee for this event, but space is limited. We've just added Minneapolis to our list of cities, so register now! http://www.winnetmag.com/roadshows/nas

* MICROSOFT TECHED 2003 EUROPE, JUNE 30 - JULY 4, BARCELONA Connect at Microsoft’s premier European conference for building, deploying and managing connected solutions. Choose from 270+ in-depth technical sessions and hands-on labs to realize your full potential on the latest Microsoft technologies, platforms and tools. Register now and save 300 Euros! http://www.microsoft.com/europe/teched

RESOURCE

* FEATURED THREAD: PROXY SERVER 2.0 NETWORK ADDRESS TRANSLATION (NAT) Forum member Sam would like to know how to enable Network Address Translation (NAT) on Microsoft Proxy Server 2.0. To lend Sam a helping hand, click the following URL: http://www.winnetmag.com/forums/rd.cfm?cid=41&tid=58294

NEW AND IMPROVED

(contributed by Sue Cooper, [email protected])

* CREATE XML CONTENT IN A FAMILIAR ENVIRONMENT Ektron released Ektron CMS300 2.5, an enterprise-class Web Content Management System (CMS). This browser-based CMS offers Extensible Style Language Transformations (XSLT) support, XML validation, multistep workflow, and an open API for extendibility. Ektron CMS300 software lets those with little technical knowledge create XML content in a word processor or formslike environment. New features include automatic image upload when pasting from Microsoft Word, commenting features for collaboration, and search and replace in WYSIWYG and HTML mode. Ektron CMS300 2.5 supports Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP), ASP.NET, and ColdFusion environments. For pricing, contact Ektron at 603-594-0249 and [email protected]. http://www.ektron.com

* SUBMIT TOP PRODUCT IDEAS Have you used a product that changed your IT experience by saving you time or easing your daily burden? Do you know of a terrific product that others should know about? Tell us! We want to write about the product in a future What's Hot column. Send your product suggestions to [email protected].

CONTACT US

Here's how to reach us with your comments and questions:

* ABOUT THE COMMENTARY -- [email protected]

* ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER IN GENERAL -- [email protected] (please mention the newsletter name in the subject line)

* TECHNICAL QUESTIONS -- http://www.winnetmag.net/forums

* PRODUCT NEWS -- [email protected]

* QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR WINDOWS WEB SOLUTIONS UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION? Email Customer Support -- [email protected]

* WANT TO SPONSOR WINDOWS WEB SOLUTIONS UPDATE? [email protected]

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