http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=215282

A new video was just posted to Channel 9. This is me and Thomas Deml, IIS uber PM, being "interviewed" by my boss, James Conard about IIS 7 extensibility. IIS 7 really does open a lot of new doors for web developers so check it out. If you want details on the developer side of isle, check out the examples and sample code iis.net. Go to the TechCenter and filter on IIS7.

-brett

 

eWEEK posted a pefomance article testing open source applications on Windows Server 2003 R2. The premise was to test peformance of open source technologies running on Windows vs Linux.

The Windows based stacks did very well in the tests overall leading to the conclusion that "Enterprise IT managers shouldn't hesitate to look into the option of deploying open-source stacks on a Windows Server platform."

It's mind boggling, however, that the only test off IIS 6 here is with Sharepoint. I would love to have seen Windows+IIS+PHP+MySQL vs LAMP in this test.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1983364,00.asp

-brett

 

At Microsoft, most people have their own office. Even a lowbie like me has a private space with a door that closes and I appreciate that. However, it is pretty common for people to be relocated fairly often as new hires come in, people leave for new jobs in and out of Microsoft and team priorities change requiring reduced or increased staffing.

So, as you may have heard Robert Scoble is leaving Microsoft, and this happens just as we are shuffling offices. I got shuffled into Robert's office. Now, don't go thinking it's anything special ... Not.

He did leave a gigantic box of video tapes and some other stuff, and we had a few chats in the hall about his move. Robert was always very approachable and kind to me, something I appreciate from anyone, and even moreso from somone who has his name recognition. Some people are pretty stuffy when they think they are "someone" instead of  themselves.

At any rate. I thought it was at least intresting that I'm landing in his office. Maybe it will result in more blogging!

-brett

... I happened to be interviewed Adam Machanic (SQL MVP) as I passed by the database section of the exhibitaiton. My ramblings were captured on video and posted here. http://www.sswug.org/sswugradio/getpodcast.asp?pid=119 

In this edition, I interview Henry Seiller from the IIS team. Henry is in charge of installation and upgrades at it relates to IIS on Vista and Longhorn. This is actually a pretty interesting topic and there are significant changes under the hood.

Check it out http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/IIS_Show

-brett

 

So I loaded a screencast on Channel 9 today at http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=206237. It's about installing IIS7 on Vista. Haven't done one of these screencasts before so forgive the resolution. A link to a better one is here: InstallingIIS7onVista.wmv (70.97 MB).

Short story is IIS 7 modular so the IIS team had an interesting situation to consider. Since we claim all over the place to be "secure by default", the question arises - now that we can opt to not load certain features in IIS 7 that are loaded all the time in IIS 6 (CGI processing, ADSI compatibility, Digest authentication for example): should we load things that customer expect since that they way IIS 6 works, or not load things they don't ask for making it more secure. The current trend in that discussion is the "not" side of the discussion. As as result, IIS 7 doesn't do some thing you might expect if you just install the default configuration. Here's a video that explains shows you some of the details.

-brett

 

I just created a new discussion list for IIS 7 on my list server.

You can signup at http://iislists.com if you want to. No spam I promise.

FYI, this list server is not associated with Mircrosoft, just something I do to help the community. I've had the list server for years, long before I started at Microsoft.

So, if you want to subscribe, please do. It is not moderated (unless people go crazy which happens from time to time so I'll intervene if necessary, but is rare). There are a lot of good admins on the IIS6 lists, so check it out. 

-brett

 

I spent the week hanging out at the IIS booth at TechEd. The booth was, as usual for IIS, located in the back and kind of out of site. "Can't get no respect". I didn't do any formal presentations this year but did a few "chalktalks". A chalktalk is what we call a presentation that is not a formal "breakout" session. The chalktalks were presented at the little theatre style areas on the expo floor. If you go to a Microsoft event, be sure to check these out as they often have the coolest info. Theres usually about 5-25 people there so you can ask a lot of questions, the presenters are typically expert in their topics and the presenter is able to do a much for relaxed, free form presentation.

One of my favorites was Andrew Lin, who works with the IIS team on the UI and administration, doing a presentation on the new Microsoft.web.adminstration API for IIS 7. In real time, he created a little comman line utility that did basic operations like create a website, assign it an app pool, then added features to with just a couple of lines of code like stop and start the site etc. Very nice. He took requests (or at least tried to get requests) from the audience about what to add. In the end, he had a little utility that would do some basic operations for administering a site using the the ne managed code API. Before you ask, APPCMD, the new command line utility, will do all of these things as well. The point was to show off the new API and how you can write code to deploy content as well as mange the server quite easily.

Another favority demo was on that Alexis Eller, IIS PM, did in her formal breakout session. I was really amazed at her demo bravery. She installed Community Server on IIS 7 in real time then loaded it with request using prepared Wcat scripts. Then she used Powershell to implement a WMI call to show the currently executing requests (using the new APIs again), in a worker process but only when the CPU use was over 75%. This worked flawlessly and the powershell code was only about 20 lines of code. When this ran, every 10 seconds or so, the screen would show about 10-15 currently exectuing requests, then pause as the CPU load dropped, then list some more lines, then drop. Very cool stuff. She'll proably post it on IIS.net, but I'll ask her about it.

People who saw IIS 7 were pretty impressed and of course the biggest complaint is that we have to wait till Longhorn Server. So next year, expect IIS 7 to be huge at TechEd! Looking forward to that.

These guys came to redmond a year ago to see IIS 7 and are the first I know about to offer IIS 7 to customers. Many more to come, but as usual, MaximumASP delivers. --------- MaximumASP to Provide Hosting for Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0; MaximumASP Launches Hosting Accounts for Microsoft Windows Server ``Longhorn'' Beta 2 and IIS 7.0 LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 8, 2006--MaximumASP, a leading provider of Microsoft Windows-based hosting services, today announced that it will be Microsoft Corp.'s first partner to provide free beta test accounts featuring Microsoft Windows Server "Longhorn" Beta 2 and Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0. This new technology release will be available in a hosted environment, allowing users from around the world to test and evaluate the new platform free of charge. "MaximumASP is a natural choice to debut IIS 7.0 in a hosted environment. Throughout the evaluation and testing process, MaximumASP demonstrated excellent flexibility and technical skill, and has developed a strong relationship with the developer product groups at Microsoft," said Bill Staples, product unit manager of IIS 7.0 at Microsoft. "The IIS product is at the center of Microsoft's Web platform strategy. IIS serves as the underlying hosting and management infrastructure for all of Microsoft's Web platform technologies including ASP.NET and Windows Communication Foundation. Microsoft is excited to work with MaximumASP as an early adopter of IIS 7.0 and believes its commitment to quality hosting and excellent customer service will result in a fantastic opportunity for customers to evaluate IIS 7.0." "We are very excited about the IIS 7.0 architecture and anxious to give users a sneak preview of how it will change management of hosted sites and Web applications," said Chris Page, CTIO of MaximumASP. "MaximumASP continues to lead the hosting industry by giving our customers a competitive edge and enabling them to be first-to-market with new solutions." Page also added, "Since 2000 we have been a solution for professional Microsoft developers seeking a partner in the hosting space that understands their needs and approaches hosting from their point of view. Our business model allows developers to focus their attention on what they do well: develop, deploy, and support web-based applications using Microsoft technologies. MaximumASP is thrilled to offer the latest innovation from Microsoft while also providing the back-end infrastructure and management to ensure maximum reliability and scalability for end users." To learn more about this exciting new technology and corresponding support visit: www.iis.net What's new in IIS 7.0? The short answer is "a lot!" IIS 7.0 makes it easy to: -- Minimize patching and security risks with fine grained control over the Web server footprint -- Implement powerful Web solutions rapidly with a new extensibility framework -- Go to market faster with simplified deployment and configuration of applications -- Reduce administrative costs by managing Web infrastructure more efficiently -- Reduce Web site downtime by quickly resolving faulty applications What's new with Windows Server "Longhorn" Beta 2? The next version of Microsoft Windows Server, code-named "Longhorn," is the next-generation Windows Server operating system that will help IT professionals maximize control over their infrastructure and deliver a more secure, reliable and robust server environment. Windows Server "Longhorn" Beta 2 is now available to subscribers to TechNet and MSDN in addition to select beta testers, customers, and partners. Beta 2 is aimed at hardware manufacturers, independent software vendors and developers, and the IT professional community. Windows "Longhorn" Server Beta 2 offers a unified platform for Web publishing integrating with IIS 7.0, Microsoft ASP.NET, Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. MaximumASP, based in Louisville, Kentucky, was founded in 2000 as an outsourcing firm for Microsoft Windows-based hosting services. The company currently hosts more than 44,000 domains for customers in over 60 countries. With a strong focus on hosting solutions that combine advanced monitoring and management tools, MaximumASP has become a top choice for Microsoft developers seeking a robust hosting platform for mission-critical web applications. For more information visit www.maximumasp.com The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Study Finds Windows Server More Reliable Than Linux InternetNews - 6/8/2006 A study by the Yankee Group has found that Windows Server 2003 had nearly 20 percent more annual uptime in similar deployment scenarios over Linux. http://www.internetnews.com/stats/article.php/3611926

This podcast in the ASP.net Podcast show series by Wally McClure features an interview with Thomas Deml and Chris Adams from the IIS team and myself. Thomas is a group program manager on the team which means he manages a few other program mangaers. Chris is the community program manager and I'm a technical evangelist that has a "dotted line" connection to the team, but work actually for the LongHorn Server evangelism group in DPE (Developer and Platform Evangelism). -brett Check it out: http://aspnetpodcast.com/CS11/blogs/asp.net_podcast/archive/2006/05/30/329.aspx

If you're intrested in being a Technical Evangelist for Longhorn Server, High Availability, or other Microsoft technology see http://blogs.msdn.com/neilhut/default.aspx for details. If you have to work for a company, Microsoft is about as good as it gets. -brett

Bill has done a really cool thing. He's installed IIS 7 on his MAC, and posted the vearious IIS 7 wallpapers he's created over the last year. Aside from running the team that delivers IIS, he's a solid photographer and graphic designer. http://blogs.iis.net/bills/default.aspx

IIS Docs have been updated and are now online

IT Pro Operations (how-to):

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/Library/d0de9475-0439-4ec1-8337-2bcedacd15c71033.mspx

 

WMI

http://windowssdk.msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/IIS_70_AdminSDK/html/cd4f6f61-0b56-41cf-ac81-c6c28d2724c7.asp?frame=true

 

SDK

http://windowssdk.msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/iis_70_webextsdk/html/6c07a4d0-1bf0-45d3-8178-25df76e6740c.asp?frame=true

 

OMG! Microsoft released 3 betas today. Beta 2 if Vista, and Longhorn Server, both with IIS7 - and Office. In addition the IIS team opened www.iis.net to the public. The team has been working major hours to get the iis.net ready for general public. For those of you waiting for the nitty gritty details on IIS7 - the wait is over. One of the very coolest features of this site is the virtual labs. You can test drive IIS 7 labs in your browser! Very nice. I'll be frequenting the forums there so check it out. -brett

Ever wonder what Microsoft.com with their IIS 6 servers to deliver all of Microsoft.com to the world? I've heard people say all kinds for things like they don't really use IIS (they do), or that they use customized, private builds of IIS 6 not available to the rest of the world (they don't). They've put together some papers to tell all about how they do what they do and hopefully this will be of use to you.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/msit/deploy/mscomserverconfig_note.mspx

 

 

  Microsoft.com Moves to x64 Version of Windows

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/msit/operations/mscom64bitarchi.mspx

 

·         Optimizing Storage Management at Microsoft

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/msit/operations/storageutility.mspx

 

·         Monitoring and Troubleshooting Microsoft.com

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/msit/operations/mscomtroubleshoot.mspx

 

Also, this series of upcoming webcasts promises to be AMAZING

 

·         TechNet Webcast: Microsoft.com Operations Introduces Real World Debugging: Determining When You Have a Problem and Beginning the Initial Debugging (Level 300)

·         TechNet Webcast: Microsoft.com Operations Introduces Real World Debugging: Determining When You Have a Problem and Beginning the Initial Debugging (Level 300)

·         TechNet Webcast: Microsoft.com Operations Introduces Real World Debugging: Determining When You Have a Problem and Beginning the Initial Debugging (Level 300)

·         TechNet Webcast: Microsoft.com Operations Introduces Real World Debugging: Determining When You Have a Problem and Beginning the Initial Debugging (Level 300)

·         TechNet Webcast: Microsoft.com Operations Introduces Real World Debugging: Determining When You Have a Problem and Beginning the Initial Debugging (Level 300)

 

David is the IIS ubergeek of all time. Check out his blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/david.wang/default.aspx

So part of my team here are Microsoft is producing a new Microsoft event called Mix. This is going to a very different kind of Microsoft event. Much more feedback, interaction, and a lot of presentations by non-MS thought leaders. You might be intrested so check it out:

---------------------------

Microsoft invites you to MIX, our 72 hour conversation live in Vegas, to discuss with industry leaders such as yourself high-fidelity commerce, media, services and security for the World Wide Web.  Join Bill Gates of Microsoft, Amazon, and web thought leaders such as Tim O’Reilly on March 20-22 at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas to learn about the web’s next generation of content and commerce, plus the customer experience that is beyond the browser.  Registration is open!  www.mix06.com

 

The MIX conference is a LIVE conversation between web developers, designers and business leaders who create consumer-oriented web sites. Why is it called MIX?  The event is not only a place where you can Meet, Interact, and eXplore with Microsoft and others about the web, but we are MIXing things up by having a conference for tech geeks as well as business professionals who help make decisions about technologies and strategies for your company’s customer facing web sites.  When you attend MIX you’ll hear about Microsoft’s roadmap for the web, and learn the latest about IE7, Windows Media, Windows Live!, as well as “Atlas”, Microsoft’s new AJAX framework.  Register today and take advantage of the low price of $995, as well as the discounted conference hotel rate.

 

At MIX: 

 

Developers can dive deep into the latest Microsoft web technologies, including Internet Explorer 7, Atlas/AJAX, ASP.NET, InfoCard, the Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Media and others. Want to learn how to code pages for IE7 that render properly in other popular browsers? Interested in building AJAX sites quickly and efficiently?

 

Designers can learn how Microsoft’s platform technologies will allow them to create rich experiences that incorporate video, advanced typography, vector graphics, and 3D graphics. Explore new ways to differentiate your sites from those of your competitors, learn how to streamline the designer-developer pipeline and discuss strategies for improving your site’s usability.

 

Business Decision Makers will get a solid overview of how Windows Vista and the Internet Explorer roadmap can boost site revenues and unlock new business opportunities. Get the latest Vista and IE7 forecasts from Microsoft, discuss the business implications of RSS and pick up insights on how to better monetize your offerings.

 

What kind of content will be offered at MIX?  Sessions at MIX will be focused on two main scenarios that will help you stay on the cutting edge of technology, while at the same time enable you to further monetize your web offerings! 

 

Next Generation Content & Commerce

 

A plain old HTML experience is no longer good enough for your most frequent (and most valuable) users—AJAX is setting new standards for responsiveness and usability, visitors are expecting increasingly-sophisticated customization and personalization options, and rich media integration is unlocking new revenue streams. But building these richer sites can be difficult and expensive.

 

Microsoft’s Dean Hachamovitch (General Manager, Internet Explorer team) hosts this exploration of how technologies like IE7, “Atlas” (Microsoft’s new AJAX framework), Windows Live!, the Windows Presentation Foundation and InfoCard can take your browser-based content and commerce experiences to another level and increase earnings, while minimizing development and maintenance costs.

 

User Experience Beyond the Browser

 

As web-based content and services become increasingly indispensable, users are expecting to interact with your offerings in new ways and in new locations.

 

Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore (Vice President, eHome division) hosts this overview of your options for boosting revenues by building “sticky” experiences that follow the user outside the browser, into the living room and on the go. Some of the specific technologies that will be discussed include: RSS, the Windows Sidebar, Office 12, Windows Mobile and Windows Media Center/Xbox 360.

 

You can view the MIX agenda and top session list at www.mix06.com.  You can also subscribe to the MIX blog to get our regular updates and find out what is new and hot with MIX. 

 

The MIX conference is $995 and registration is open – be sure to sign up today to take advantage of the low hotel conference rate at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas.

 

See you in March in Vegas! 

www.mix06.com

The second edition is online that's an interview with Rick Strahl. He had just seen IIS 7 and responds to the cool things you can do with modules!

http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=128639#128639

-brett

So now I'm doing "The IIS Show".

It's a podcast. For me that means I walk in with some rough idea of what I want to talk about and just talk. I love that. You gotta know that I talk about IIS all day. In detail. So the notion of doing this is way fun. I'm going to interview some very cool people in the show like Scott Gutherie, Bill Staples, Eric Deily and other Program Managers on the IIS team you don't normally hear from.

I want to let you meet the people I meet, the faces and personalities behind the product and and at the same time showcase the new stuff that is going to change the IIS world.

So, check it out.

http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=124807

Feedback appreciated.

Brett

 

 

If you think you've got what it takes to drive messaging and build excitment about developer oppotuntites for Longhorn Server, check this out:

http://members.microsoft.com/careers/search/details.aspx?JobID=38221e32-5dc9-455c-b53d-4ad72c8dd9fe

I work on a really great team with some extremely smart and capable folks. Despite rumors to the contrary, Microsoft is one of the great places in the world to work.

-brett

 

IIS 7.0 Operations Guide: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/library/iis7/Ops/9a90c800-3f09-4a3f-87b0-caae34076aca.mspx

Expect to see serveral very intresting presentations at PDC regarding IIS 7! In fact, those attending PDC will be receiving a copy of Longhorn Server that has IIS 7 on it. Also, I'll be presenting an IIS 7 preview at Windows Connections in San Diego on Nov. 1st.http://www.winconnections.com/default.asp. See ya there or at PDC!

 

 

 

Just in case you are suffering from the delusion that Apache admins live in happyland, here's a very intresting thread.

http://apache.slashdot.org/apache/05/07/22/2159253.shtml?tid=133&tid=2

 

-brett

 

http://www.w2knews.com/index.cfm?id=535

A new survey commissioned published by Sunbelt Software of Linux and Microsoft servers has some intresting comments. Most notably:

Windows usage remains high: 55% of the respondents noted that 80% to 100% of their servers are running Windows. Only three percent of respondents said they had no Windows installed.

Linux deployments also remain healthy: 38% of the respondents reported that up to 20% of their servers were running Linux, while only 28% said they did not have any Linux installed.

However the number of vociferous and strident complaints regarding the performance of Windows has diminished considerably compared with earlier Yankee/Sunbelt surveys. In fact, many respondents noted the vast performance and reliability improvement from the legacy Windows NT 4 platform to the current Windows Server 2003 release

One of the things I've said for a long time about Microsoft is that they are learning more and more about how to make better operating systems. Each release has in fact been better then the previous, with the exception of Windows ME. But from NT-2000-2003 you see a clear evolution. And the view from here is that this evolution is not ending anytime soon.

 

-brett

 

Be sure to visit all the options under "Configuration" in the Admin Menu Bar above. There are 16 themes to choose from, and you can also create your own.

 

Having come from an IT Pro/administrative focus the last few years, I was expecting that IIS 7 would be more of the same great goodness we got from IIS 6. IIS 6 was a gigantic step from IIS 5 and offered a great deal more for admins in terms of reliability, security, and performance. IIS 7 does indeed have improvements in administration, but the underlying architecture regarding working processes/application pools and http.sys doesn't change much. This design has proven itself in the field to be more than capable in the most loaded, attacked, stressed, hi-availability sites in the world.

However, if you want to modify the capabilities of IIS 6 to do things it doesn't do, that was tricky. ISAPI filters are ideally placed in the architecture for adding capabilities but are tricky to write and have limitations Also, if you want to do forms based authentication for non-asp.net applications - well, sorry, you have to write your own. All of that changes in IIS 7.

In IIS 6, the design philosophy is - start the server and enable only the features you require. Most are disabled by default but the code for those disabled features is loaded nonetheless. In IIS 7, the design philosophy is start the server and load only the features you require, the rest are NOT PRESENT. If you only want static content and a basic authentication, you list the required modules in applicaitonhost.config for those functions. You want compression? Load the module. You want to write your own authentication? Write your own - managed or native code - and load it. Goodby Isapi Filters!

This is major bigness and is only one of the many new major bignesses in IIS 7. There are big stories around  administration, integration with .net, tracing and diagnostics, WMI, and just about evey other area. Here's a pointer for admins - start now getting familiar with web.config files in asp.net. Even if you aren't deploying asp.net on IIS 5 or 6, IIS 7 will be using .config files instead of the metabase as it's configuration store. You will be able to mange it from the new Web Manager, but it's helpful to have some notion about how .config works before you get into IIS 7. In particular, for administrators, is the use of the LOCATION tag.

For developers, consider what you can do with IIS 7 by extending the capabilities of the server to interact with your application and infrastructure in ways never before possible. By creating a module and loading it as part of IIS 7 itself - you can add capabilities to the server specific to your business requirements or application.  In addition, the APIs to manage the configuration will all be fully public and part of .net. And, it’s designed with to support xcopy deployment.

More to follow

-brett

 

 

 

http://blogs.interknowlogy.com/scottcase/archive/2005/07/11/351.aspx

I get asked a lot, "what the heck is Evangelism at Microsoft?". Having given quite a few answers, I still don't like any of them in terms of what it communicates. Here's really good, short interview with Steve B at Microsoft who is asked the question "Why is there evangelism at Microsoft?"

http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=85529#85529

If you want a look at the future, hang out at Microsoft for a while.  You are quickly inundated with programs, projects, and products under development – some of which won’t be used by people for years.

What’s interesting is the effect this has on people here.  Imagine for a moment that everyone you worked with was working on a project all year, for a product that has another year to go before people see it. All you think about, all your time, all your creative work is going into unreleased, improved technology. By the time this gets to the public, while wholly new to the world, it’s seems been around for years to the authors. Uptake rates kick in and by the time the product is widely adopted, the authors are 4-5 years ahead of that curve.

That’s a pretty serious discontinuity and I see it all the time. I edited a powerpoint deck last week on Longhorn installation processes that referred to current technology as the “old” way. Another example, this week a presenter asked the audience how many were running IIS 6 and about ¼ of the room raised their hands, much to the surprise of the presenter (and this was an IIS 7 presentation!).

The risk here is that new technologies and organizations that create them become over time more and more distanced from the current experience of the customers. Eventually, technologies are released that improve on technologies that haven’t yet been widely adopted. At this point, companies that create these technologies run the risk of simply running too far ahead of the customer and eventually leaving the realm of dealing with their significant day to day realities. Yes the new stuff is way cool and really does have a lot to offer, but adoption rates do not keep pace with the torrent of new technologies, and this gap has got to have larger and larger impact over time.

 

The HackIIS6.com contest has ended. Penton publishing, the sponsors of the event - [as in NOT MICROSOFT], heard the many posts and comments publicly and privately that contests like this don't actually prove anything.

So Penton decided to end the contest early and I think rightly so.  They simply turned the site off for a few days while they crafted a message about the changeup. It would have been best if they hadn't done things quite in that order, but that's what happend. The site was not hacked nor did it suffer a DoS attack.

I agree with Penton on this. This contest and others like it don't prove anything. If you want to show that IIS 6 is secure (or visa versa) do it with a record based on real world implementations, not unrealistic short term "hack me" events.

IIS 6 has already passed the most rigerous testing on the planet. The results are in and they come from the best lab in the world - live servers running mission critical applications with billions of dollars at stake on public networks. You cannot contrive an enviroment more severe. How did it go?

1. IIS runs 53% of the Fortune 1000 as shown at http://www.port80software.com/surveys/top1000webservers/.
Yes, I know that Netcraft surverys shows a big dominance by Apache but those numbers include all domains known to man. The problem with that strategy is that it overvalues the impact of web hosters. If a web hoster puts up a 10,000 websites on an OS, that's 10,000 apache servers counted but in fact is only a couple of servers. If they move that machine to another platform, there are big shifts in the numbers for "domains hosted by X" but in reality, only 1 web hoster made a decision to change a platform on a few servers. Why should this count 10,000 times but if when another company changes from one platform to another, that counts as 1. This is not at all to devalue Netcraft’s work, just to point out that Netcraft has its own unique scope and biases (and I mean biases in the scientific sense here, not a sinister one). 

Now maybe you don't believe the 53% number because the survey was done by Port80 who writes components for IIS. So, do it yourself! A friend of mine created a tool to just that and it validates these results. We're going to use it for some further study. You could to.

If 53% of the US's largest corporations are running on IIS -  that has some meaning cause they have choices.

2. Show me any reputable list of Apache vs IIS 6 hotfixes. What do you see? Try this one as an example: http://secunia.com/product/1438/ (3 for IIS 6 ) vs. http://secunia.com/product/73/ (24 for Apache 2.0.x). Be sure to compare apples to apples. In other words, if you count every Windows 2003 problem as an IIS problem, you also have to count any other OS's problems against its web server. No matter what list you use here, IIS 6's record is impressive.

3. Remember years ago when Gartner report that said you should remove IIS? Of course you do. Everyone remembers that. But how about this Gartner report from 2004, “IIS No Longer the Problem in Web Server Security"? Why is that most people I meet have not seem to heard about Gartner coming out with paper saying that IIS security is a not an issue. I can't post the paper here as it's copyright Gartner, but the title says it all.

4. Security Innovations made this report http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/facts/analyses/secinnovation.mspx  that shows Windows Server 2003 has a lower "days of risk" factor than Red Hat/Apache.

5. Five of the top 10 most available hosters in May 2005 run Windows according the Netcraft.

There is far more, but that should server to make my point.

If I sound like an evangelist for IIS, that's a good thing. I came to be one not because Microsoft offered me the job, but because simply reporting the facts about IIS 6 creates a complelling story that is persusive based on technical merits.

I have personally talked to many IIS administrators (hundreds) responsible for tens