Although IIS has been available for several years now, version 4.0 of the Internet Information Server marks a major change in Microsoft's approach to Enterprise Web Service. The brand new feature set in IIS 4.0 reads like a wish list of hot Internet technologies. Administration of IIS has been overhauled by the integration of the Microsoft Management Console. IIS 4.0 is the first product to use MMC, which will be a standard feature in Windows NT 5.0. Moreover, the new Certificate Server provides X.509 digital certificates for secure communications, which will support the S/MIME secure messaging protocol and the SET protocol to enable secure electronic commerce HYPERLINK /Content/Features/Techno/Ecommerce20/. Also included in the new version of IIS are: a search engine; a news server; the Microsoft Transaction Server for transaction processing, and SiteServer Express, which contains stripped-down versions of log and site analysis applications and tools for publishing directly to a Web site. All of this new functionality is a boon to the administrator, but is overwhelming to the administrator as well. Web security concerns are now paramount and very difficult to manage. Administrators who know IIS from previous versions need a book that will show them in concrete detail how to configure the new protocols, authenticate users with the new Certificate Server, and implement and manage the new e-commerce features. They want to know how to work with the MMC, so that they¡ll be ready for Windows NT 5.0. This book gives them all of that: a quick read that provides real world solutions, and doubles as a portable reference.
About the Author: Kelli Adam is currently the president and principal consultant of ConnectOS Corporation, the network consulting and Internet services firm she founded in 1995 near Redmond, Washington. She became a Microsoft Certified Professional in 1991 and went on to attain status as a Microsoft Certified Trainer and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer Plus Internet. Kelli participated in writing Microsoft certification exams on Internet Information Server, Networking Essentials, Internet Explorer Administration Kit, Proxy Server, and SNA Server. She also coauthored MCSE Training Guide: TCP/IP, Second Edition, by New Riders Publishing (1-56205-920-3). Kelli taught the Microsoft train-the-trainer course on Internet Information Server in both the United States and Japan, and Proxy Server in Japan.
Most recently, Kelli was honored as one of the Top 40 executives under the age of 40 in her area. Still, she finds time to spend with her two house bunnies; her husband, Daniel; and her 1-year-old son, Nicolas. But, lately she has not found as much time to enjoy SCUBA diving, wine collecting, boating or private pilot lessons. Kelli can be reached at KelliA@ConnectOS.com.
Lisa Stanley, MCP, is a technical engineer at ConnectOS Corporation who is responsible for technical administration of Web, SQL, and Windows Media Technology servers. Lisa's background and experience has evolved from being an intern with an associate's degree in information technology into playing an integral role in the technical success of ConnectOS. She enjoys science fiction books and movies, as well as various arts and crafts.
