Server and Tools Business News Bytes blog : IIS

Improve Web User Experience with IIS SEO Toolkit RTW and IIS URL Rewriter 2.0 RC

mdingle — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:01:00 GMT

Today, Microsoft announced the releases of IIS Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Toolkit RTW and IIS URL Rewriter 2.0 RC – both extensions for IIS.

The IIS SEO Toolkit helps Web developers, hosting providers, and Web server administrators to improve their Web site’s relevance in search results by recommending how to make the site content more search engine-friendly. The IIS SEO Toolkit helps to improve the volume and quality of traffic to your Web site from search engines, control how search engines access and display Web content, and inform search engines about locations that are available for indexing.

IIS URL Rewriter 2.0 adds support for outbound response rewriting and enables Web administrators to create powerful rules to implement URLs that are easier for users to remember and easier for search engines to find. IIS URL Rewriter 2.0 helps to easily define rules that match URLs or HTTP headers to generate more friendly and consistent URLs, protect content and assets from unauthorized linking and scanning, and integrate with existing IIS features to improve management, performance, and troubleshooting.

Also just released is our learning section on Running PHP Applications on IIS. We have a ton of brand new and updated content to help provide PHP on Windows users a single source of end-to-end guidance.

For more information or to download, please visit the IIS SEO Toolkit RTW page and the IIS URL Rewriter 2.0 RC page.

Provide a Better Web Site Experience with Faster Response Times

mdingle — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:15:00 GMT

Today, Microsoft announced the beta release of IIS Application Warm-Up – an extension for IIS 7.5 that enables IT Professionals to improve the responsiveness of their Web sites by loading the Web applications before the first request arrives. By proactively loading and initializing all the dependencies such as database connections, compilation of ASP.NET code, and loading of modules, IT Professionals can ensure their Web sites are responsive at all times even if their Web sites use a custom request pipeline or if the Application Pool is recycled.

For more information or to download, please visit the IIS Application Warm-Up page.

Six Ways to Help Customers Extend their Web Sites

mdingle — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:05:00 GMT

Today, Microsoft announced updates to six important IIS Extensions:

· IIS Application Request Routing 2.0 RC adds support to enhance disk based cache and cache proxy for content delivery networks while increasing Web application reliability and scalability through rule-based routing and load balancing of HTTP server requests.

· IIS Search Engine Optimization Toolkit Beta2 helps Web developers, hosting providers, and Web server administrators to improve their Web site’s relevance in search results by recommending how to make the site content more search engine-friendly.

· IIS URL Rewriter 2.0 RC adds support for outbound response rewriting while enabling Web administrators to create powerful rules to implement URLs that are easier for users to remember and easier for search engines to find.

· IIS Web Deployment Tool RTW simplifies the migration, management, and deployment of IIS Web servers, Web applications, and Web sites.

· IIS Database Manager RTW allows you to easily manage your local and remote databases from within IIS Manager.

· Coming soon, IIS Media Services 3.0 RTW, an integrated HTTP-based media delivery platform, combines all IIS media extensions - including IIS Live Smooth Streaming - and delivers true HD (720p+) streaming for users and real-time logging to measure media investments.

Microsoft also announced three significant enhancements to the overall Microsoft Web Platform:

· The new Microsoft® WebsiteSpark™ program makes it easy for Web professionals to get the software and support needed and a marketplace to grow their business on the Microsoft Web Platform.

· The Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 RTW provides developers with a simplified, ‘one click’ installation of technologies in the Web stack – including IIS Extensions, amplifying ease of use and reducing complexity.

· The Windows Web Application Gallery provides access to over 20 popular, free, and ready to install Web apps to build Web sites and Web applications that run on Windows.

Download Six Updated IIS Extensions here or visit the Official Microsoft IIS Extensions site for more information.

Microsoft Ignites New Opportunities for Web Professionals with the WebsiteSpark Program

mdingle — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:20:00 GMT

Today in Amsterdam, Microsoft is making a couple of exciting announcements about the Web platform. First, Microsoft announced the launch of the WebsiteSpark Program, a new program designed to help business development for Web professionals. As the latest program in the ‘Spark’ family, including BizSpark and DreamSpark, the WebsiteSpark Program provides eligible Web professionals with design and development software licenses, server production licenses and free training and support, with no up-front costs.

Second, Microsoft also announced the Release to Web of the Web Platform Installer 2.0 and the Windows Web Application Gallery 2.0. This new release provides developers with a simplified installation of Microsoft products and technologies that reduces download complexity, and includes new additions such as IIS Media Pack, Windows Azure SDK, and more. Coupled with the App Gallery, developers can also access dozens of free, open-code and ready-to-install applications to help build their Web sites. Today more than 20 apps are available from both Microsoft and the broader community, including WordPress, SugarCRM and DotNetNuke.

To learn more about the WebsiteSpark Program, including who is eligible, visit http://www.microsoft.com/web/websitespark or http://www.websitespark.com. You can also download Web Platform Installer 2.0 and Windows Web Application Gallery at http://www.microsoft.com/web.

Download the New Windows Cache Extension for PHP Beta

mdingle — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:13:00 GMT

Download the New Windows Cache Extension for PHP Beta

Today, Microsoft is announcing the Windows Cache Extension for PHP Beta – a PHP accelerator that is used to increase the speed of PHP applications running on Windows and Windows Server. Once the Windows Cache Extension for PHP is enabled and loaded by the PHP engine, PHP applications can take advantage of the functionality without any code modifications.

Windows Cache Extension for PHP Beta can be installed with the Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 RC and works with IIS 7.5, 7.0, 6.0, and 5.1.

For more information, please visit the Windows Server Division Blog and the IIS Learning page.

Download the New IIS SEO Toolkit Beta

mdingle — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Download the New IIS SEO Toolkit Beta

Today, Microsoft is announcing the IIS Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Toolkit Beta – brand new tools that help Web developers, hosting providers, and server administrators improve their sites’ relevance in search results by recommending how to make them more search engine-friendly. The IIS SEO Toolkit includes three modules that integrate with IIS Manager: Site Analysis, which suggests changes that can help improve the volume and quality of traffic to your Web site from search engines; Robots Exclusion, which makes it easier to control and restrict the content that search engines index and display; and Sitemaps and Site Indexes, which can help inform search engines about locations that are available for indexing. The IIS SEO Toolkit Beta can be installed with the Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 Beta for use with IIS 7.0 and IIS 7.5.

For more information, please visit the Windows Server Division Weblog .

Several Microsoft Products Receive Awards from Info Security Products Guide

grantkd — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:35:00 GMT

Earlier this week, Info Security Products Guide, a leading publication on security-related products and technologies, announced the winners of the 2009 Global Excellence Awards. Three Microsoft solutions took first place in the following award categories:

Category: Document Protection. Winner: Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint

Category: Firewall Solution. Winner: Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 (next version called Forefront Threat Management Gateway)

Category: Identity Management Solution. Winner: Microsoft Identity Lifecycle Manager 2007 (next version called Forefront Identity Manager)

For more information, please visit the Forefront Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/forefront/archive/2009/04/21/award-winning-solutions.aspx

In the 2009 Tomorrow’s Technology Today Awards, the following Microsoft solutions were selected as winners:

Category: Load Balancing Solution Winner: IIS Application Request Routing

Category: Web Filtering Solution Winner: IIS URL Scan 3.1

For more information, please visit the Windows Server Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/archive/2009/04/24/iis-receives-two-prestigious-awards.aspx

MIX 09: New IIS Extension Releases

mdingle — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Today at the Microsoft event MIX09, we are announcing the availability of a number of new IIS Extension releases in addition to the Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 Beta and the Windows Web Application Gallery. IIS Extensions add value to the Microsoft Web Platform by enabling Web developers, server administrators, and hosting providers to more easily develop, deploy, publish, and manage Web applications and Web servers.

· Final RTW Versions of FTP Service 7.5, WebDAV 7.5, IIS Administration Pack, Windows PowerShell Snap-In for IIS, and IIS Application Request Routing V1: To ensure Web developers and site managers have secure, standards-oriented publishing technologies available, we are releasing FTP Service 7.5 and WebDAV 7.5. These extensions build on the enhancements delivered by the FTP 7.0 and WebDAV 7.0 releases that followed the launch of Windows Server 2008 and IIS 7.0, supporting more clients and simplifying site administration. The IIS 7.0 Administration Pack enhances the set of management features in IIS by providing management user interface extensions for ASP.NET authorization, custom errors, FastCGI configuration, Request Filtering, and a generic configuration editor. The Windows PowerShell Snap-In for IIS allows Web server administrators and hosting providers to easily automate routine and complex IIS 7.0 administration tasks such as creating Web sites and managing configuration and run-time data. Application Request Routing enables Web server administrators and hosting providers to increase Web application scalability and reliability through rule-based routing and load balancing of HTTP server requests.

· Release Candidate Versions of IIS Web Deployment Tool and IIS Database Manager: For server administrators and Web developers, it is important to be able to deploy, package, and migrate Web applications, and also to quickly view and manage Web application databases. These two release candidates have received very positive feedback from customers and have had numerous user interface improvements to bring them to production quality as we make final tweaks before RTW.

· Beta Versions of IIS Application Request Routing V2, IIS Smooth Streaming, and IIS Dynamic IP Restrictions: Following the RTW of Application Request Routing V1, we are pleased to make available a preview of Version 2. V2 will include new disk-caching functionality for edge servers to further enhance server farm scalability and availability. IIS Smooth Streaming allows IT Professionals to deliver video that adapts continuously to provide the highest-quality playback based on the available bandwidth and local PC conditions. The Dynamic IP Restriction Extension for IIS provides IT Professionals and hosting providers a configurable module that helps mitigate or block denial-of-service attacks or cracking of passwords through brute force by temporarily blocking IP addresses of HTTP clients who follow a pattern that could be conducive to one of such attacks.

Get the latest versions of all IIS Extensions through the Microsoft Web Platform Installer, or learn more about IIS Extensions at www.iis.net/extensions.

Announcing the final release of UrlScan 3.0 for Internet Information Services (IIS)

grantkd — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:04:00 GMT

Today Microsoft released to the web UrlScan 3.0 for Internet Information Service (IIS) which is helping to correct and prevent possible SQL injection attacks.

UrlScan 3.0 is a security tool that restricts the types of HTTP requests that IIS will process. By blocking specific HTTP requests, the UrlScan 3.0 security tool helps to prevent potentially harmful requests from reaching applications on the server.

UrlScan 3.0 is an update to UrlScan 2.5 and requires IIS 5.1 or later, including the latest IIS 7.0 on Windows Server 2008.

For more information check out the Windows Server Division blog. Other resources include: Internet Information Services (IIS) blog, Engineering Blog and Using UrlScan.

Windows Server 2008 RC0

grantkd — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:00:00 GMT

Release Candidate (RC0) for Windows Server 2008 will be available for download within the next 24 hours. With this release, Microsoft’s partners and customers can download and experience a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Windows Server virtualization. For more information, please see our PressPass feature and Windows Server Team blog.

Additionally, Microsoft announced the availability of the Windows Media Services 2008 RC0 and Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7) Media Pack CTP. Windows Media Services 2008 provides 2x scalability over Windows Media Services 9.0 and now supports a Server Core installation, enabling reduced footprints for fixed-function streaming server scenarios. With the new IIS7 Media Pack CTP, customers benefit from dynamic per-file “bit-rate throttling,” which saves network bandwidth while preserving the fast start-up experience for end users. Windows Media Services 2008 RC0 will be available for download at http://go.microsoft.com/?LinkID=7436557; the IIS7 Media Pack CTP will be available at http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7376760.

Microsoft today also announced the release of Windows Vista SP1 Beta to a select group of approximately 12K testers. This release focuses on addressing specific reliability and performance issues, supporting new types of hardware, and adding support for several emerging standards. In addition to the news around SP1, Microsoft also announced that pre-release versions of reliability and compatibility fixes are available today on the Connect site and will later be available via Windows Update. For more information on today’s announcements, please see the Windows Vista team blog, the Windows Experience Blog and a video by Channel 9. In addition, Jon DeVaan, Senior Vice President of the Windows Core Operating System Division, spoke about SP1 in an August 29^th QA on PressPass.

Microsoft and Sun Expand Strategic Alliance

grantkd — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:14:00 GMT

Microsoft Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. today announced that Sun has signed on as a Windows Server^® OEM. Additionally, Sun and Microsoft will collaborate to further enable deployment of Windows Server on Sun x64 systems.

Key components in today’s announcement include:

•	Windows Server OEM agreement. Sun will offer Windows Server on their x64 hardware and will provide additional utilities and value-added software offerings to server systems carrying Windows Server. Windows Server 2003 will be available on Sun x64 systems within 90 days.
•	Sun x64 systems and storage. Microsoft recognizes Sun’s compelling x64 server and storage products in the market today. Microsoft and Sun will continue to work together to test and validate the Windows platform on these systems for scale-up enterprise computing.
•	Solaris and Windows virtualization. Sun and Microsoft will work together to ensure that Solaris runs well as a guest on Microsoft virtualization technologies and that Windows Server runs well as a guest in Sun’s virtualization technologies. Sun and Microsoft will work together on a support process for customers using the virtualization solutions. This joint commitment to customers ensures that Windows and Solaris will provide a solid virtualization experience.
•	Expanded IPTV partnership. Sun and Microsoft will continue to collaborate to advance the worldwide deployment of the Microsoft Mediaroom™ IPTV and multimedia platform on Sun server and storage systems. AT&T U-verse digital TV offering has chosen Sun for one of world’s largest deployments of the Microsoft Mediaroom platform, which includes server and client software. The combination of Sun’s server solutions and Microsoft’s TV software technology and expertise is expected to speed time to market for IPTV services, while providing superior cost and performance characteristics for communications service providers worldwide.
•	Expanded investment in interoperability. Microsoft and Sun will build an Interoperability Center on Microsoft’s Redmond campus. The center will include a demonstration area for Sun x64 systems, act as a working lab for Windows on Sun benchmarks and sales tools, and support customers running proofs of concept for projects focused on Windows on Sun x64 systems, including joint Sun/Microsoft solutions in areas such as databases, e-mail and messaging, virtualization, and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) support in Sun Ray thin clients. The Interoperability Center will expand Sun’s presence on the Microsoft main campus, adding to existing Sun systems showcased and customer-tested in the Microsoft Enterprise Engineering Center.

This continued investment in interoperability builds on the initial cooperation agreement between the two companies, initiated in April 2004. Since then Microsoft and Sun have collaborated on interoperability for Web services, identity management, thin clients, systems management and Windows Server engineering. Sun offers Windows Server installation and staging services through its Customer Ready Systems program, providing support for customers with more advanced pre-integration and testing needs. The two companies have also created a basis for tighter interoperability between Platform Enterprise Edition (Java EE), the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 and Windows Communication Foundation in Sun’s Web services interoperability technologies (called Project Tango). Sun is also a founding member of the Microsoft Interop Vendor Alliance and a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.

More information on Windows on Sun’s x64 systems is available at http://www.sun.com/software/windows.

More information on Windows 64-bit computing is available at http://www.microsoft.com/servers/64bit/overview.mspx.