Here are a few links and references that can help you learn more about how IIS works and what you need to consider when supporting or administering IIS. I'll provide more links in future issues as I introduce more troubleshooting techniques.
David A. Solomon and Helen Custer, Inside Windows NT, 2nd edition (Microsoft Press, 1998); David A. Solomon and Mark E. Russinovich, Inside Microsoft Windows 2000, 3rd edition (Microsoft Press, 2000)
These books discuss in great detail how Win2K and NT operate. You can use them to learn about thread synchronization, process creation, memory utilization, and more.
"Internet Information Services 5.0 Technical Overview"
(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/iis/technote/iis5tech.asp)
This white paper covers a good portion of the core functionality of IIS 5.0.
"Windows Web Services (IIS)"
(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/iis/default.asp)
This URL takes you to the default page for many good technical notes and white papers about IIS. You can find just about anything here.
"Microsoft Debugging Tools"
(http://www.microsoft.com/ddk/debugging)
This link takes you to the Microsoft Debugging Tools home page. You'll need these tools when I begin the troubleshooting discussion.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/server/iis/ixcptmon.asp and http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/server/iis/readlogs.asp
These links take you to Microsoft Exception Monitor and its associated documentation.