Introducing Windows .NET Web Server

IT professionals worldwide have eagerly anticipated the arrival of the Microsoft Windows .NET Server (formerly code-named Whistler) family, which contains four server products: .NET Standard Server, .NET Enterprise Server, .NET Datacenter Server, and .NET Web Server. Ironically, the most interesting aspects of the fourth server product—.NET Web Server—are what it doesn't offer. The three other servers in the .NET Server family offer all the functionality and capabilities of .NET Web Server and more. The appeal of .NET Web Server is that Microsoft has streamlined this product's administration, cost, and functionality so that it serves solely as a Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Web server.

When you contrast .NET Web Server with other Microsoft Server products, new and old, you'll find that .NET Web Server is a unique Microsoft product. To understand why systems administrators are so enthusiastic about this standalone Web server product, you need to understand the way Microsoft is positioning .NET Web Server, as well as what the product can and can't do.

Web Server Positioning
Microsoft has received harsh criticism for its Windows 2000 licensing policies for Web servers. Historically, Microsoft OSs and servers have been relatively inexpensive, so the Web server licensing wasn't a concern—until Microsoft shipped Win2K. Just as administrators discovered that deploying massive IIS 5.0 Web farms was painless under Win2K, they received a slap in the face in the form of Win2K licensing costs involved in such deployments. Many administrators wonder why their company should pay for a full Win2K Server license if they use only IIS.

Apparently, Microsoft is listening. The company is introducing .NET Web Server as a function-focused Web server, promising simplified deployment and management that are optimized for Web serving and Web hosting. All the major software and hardware platform vendors (e.g., Sun Microsystems, IBM, Netscape) have for years offered products in this space—that is, inexpensive Web server products that are separate from OS, directory, and application-server products.

Best of all, although Microsoft hasn't yet released final pricing, you can expect this member of the .NET Server family to be affordable for companies whose sole reason for implementing .NET Server will be so that they can use IIS 6.0. IT professionals who are managing a budget and constantly fighting for money to pay for new Web servers in their Web farms will find this release particularly exciting.

At the time of this writing, I'm using .NET Web Server beta 3. I anticipated problems typically associated with beta software, but so far, I've found the product to be amazingly stable and solid. I guess I shouldn't be surprised: I've had this product's predecessor—Whistler Advanced Server beta 2—in production for more than 6 months and found it to be a solid performer. The only aspect of the beta 3 version that's lacking is the documentation. However, Microsoft typically finishes documentation only after finalizing all the functionality and features.

Hardware Requirements
The .NET Web Server installation CD-ROM contains a helpful compatibility-checking program. Read Microsoft's preliminary notes, then run the program. The Check system compatibility option—which you can access on the product's main Welcome screen, which Figure 1 shows—identifies potential problems before you start. Knowing beforehand that your installation is doomed to fail is extremely helpful.

.NET Web Server's minimum hardware requirements aren't surprising:

• You need at least a 133MHz Pentium processor, although Microsoft recommends a minimum speed of 550MHz. The system supports as many as two CPUs per computer.
• You need 128MB of RAM, although Microsoft recommends 256MB of RAM. The system supports a maximum of 2GB of RAM.
• You need a hard disk partition or volume that has sufficient free space—approximately 1.5GB (2GB for Itanium-based systems)—to accommodate the setup process. More space might be necessary, depending on several conditions. First, your OS's file system is a determining factor: The FAT file system requires 100MB to 200MB more disk space than other file systems. (Microsoft recommends NTFS, which lets you use ACLs to lock down the file system.) Second, if you're running setup.exe from a network share rather than from the CD-ROM, you must allow 100MB to 200MB more space. (Many more driver files must be available during installation across a network.) Third, the larger the paging file, the more space you need on the partition or volume.
• You need a VGA or higher-resolution monitor. Microsoft recommends an SVGA 800 * 600 or better display. You also need a keyboard and mouse (or other pointing device). As an alternative, you can choose a remote diagnostic and support processor from Microsoft's Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) and implement a headless .NET Web Server system that operates without a monitor, mouse, or keyboard.