In this article, we are going to take a close look at web servers including IIS, features and strengths of IIS, precautions for introduction, and prospects of IIS related to cloud services.
What is IIS?
IIS (Internet Information Services) is a web server from Microsoft. In the first place, what is a web server and what kind of features does IIS have?
What is a Web Server?
I am sure that you sometimes browse websites such as Google and Yahoo from your PC or smartphone.
The software that provides the mechanism for displaying these websites is called a web server service.
Major web server services are as follows. IIS, Apache, and Nginx.
These web server services enable websites to be accessed from PCs and smartphones using a web browser.
However, it is not simply a matter of having these software packages to be able to display a Web site.
For a website to be displayed correctly, a computer called a server is required.
In other words, the website display is realized only when a “server” and “web server service” are combined.
What is IIS?
IIS is a web server service developed and published by Microsoft.
Traditionally, the Web server service has been Apache, but IIS is a service that Microsoft began incorporating into Windows NT 3.51 and is characterized by seamless integration with Microsoft products.
<System Requirements>
- Windows Server
- Windows 7 and later Client Operating System (only for higher editions such as Professional)
*It is disabled by default on Windows 7 and later Client OS and the number of simultaneous connections is also limited.
Previously, IIS was only available for the Windows Server series, but from Windows 7, it can also be installed and used in client OS.
Current market share of IIS
What share does IIS have in the current web server services market?
According to the report “Historical trends in the usage statistics of web servers” by Austrian web market research firm Q-Success, dated March 1, 2022, the market shares od the main web server services are as follows.
| Rank | Product | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nginx | 33.1％ |
| 2 | Apache | 30.8％ |
| 3 | Cloudflare Server | 22.1％ |
| 4 | LiteSpeed | 12.3％ |
| 5 | Microsoft-IIS | 6.1％ |
| 6 | Node.js | 1.8％ |
As this shows, IIS has a surprisingly low market share.
This is due to the following reasons.
- Many of the server environments are now Linux.
- Other new web server services have emerged.
Advantages of IIS. For what purposes is it suitable?
As mentioned earlier, there are several types of web server services besides IIS, such as Apache and Nginx, etc.
What advantages does IIS have over these other web server services?
Comparison with other web server services
Let’s compare IIS with Apache and Nginx.
| IIS | Apache | Nginx | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market share （According to Q-Success on March 2022） | 6.1％ | 30.8% | 33.1% |
| Features | Good at dynamic sites using ASP (.NET Framework). Seamless integration with Microsoft products. High visual operability | Good at dynamic sites using PHP and CGI. Fast, lightweight, highly functional. (It cannot handle many simultaneous processes.) | Good at static sites. Fast, lightweight, highly functional. |
| Support system | Full support system from Microsoft. A major advantage. | Supported by server vendors. | Support by NGINX is available. |
| Supported OS | Windows | Basically Linux: Windows is also available. | Basically Linux: Windows is also available. |
| Types of multitasking | Process-based | Process-based, thread-based | Event-driven |
| Architecture | legacy | legacy | decentralized |
| Suitable server scale | Up to medium scale | Up to medium scale | Large-scale also available |
| Scale-out | available | difficult | easy |
| Other Distinctive Features | - | Ease of extending functionality with modules | Has load balancer and reverse proxy functionality |
What are the unique advantages of IIS?
Based on comparisons with other web server services, what are the advantages of IIS?
- It has seamless integration with Microsoft products (Windows OS, SQL server, etc.)
- Developed on Microsoft development platforms such as ASP.NET run on it.
- It has full support system from Microsoft.
These are the advantages of IIS.
Even in the enterprise market, where Linux servers are becoming more and more common, there is a high demand for such services, with many customers specifying Windows Server + IIS for their construction.
What is the best uses for IIS?
What is the best uses for IIS compared to other web server services such as Apache and nginx?
The greatest advantage of IIS is its “seamless integration with Microsoft products.
Therefore, by using OS and database products developed by Microsoft, a very efficient and stable environment can be built.
In addition, only IIS can use ASP.NET and .Net Framework.
Therefore, when building a dynamic site using ASP, IIS is the natural choice, and “IIS + Microsoft SQL Server” is recommended for building a stable Windows-based environment to run the site.
Cloud services and IIS
Microsoft’s cloud service (Microsoft Azure) has a high market share comparable to Amazon’s AWS and Google’s GCP.
Microsoft Azure and IIS
IIS is also available in Azure, Microsoft’s cloud service, in the following ways.
- Azure Web Apps: Web application services on Azure
There is no need to build a server, simply select the service on Azure and use it easily.
- Use of IIS installed on a virtual machine on Azure
By installing IIS on a virtual machine on Azure, you can use IIS in the same way as usual.
Also, recently, it has been actively used to link traditional physical servers (on-premise) with the cloud, and this is also possible with Azure.
In this way, it is also possible to link IIS in Azure with IIS on-premise.
What is the future of IIS services?
In the past, the most common method was to install and use IIS, Apache, nginx, etc. on a server.
However, the following methods are expected to expand in the future.
- Using as a service on the cloud like Azure Web App
- Linking on-premise, cloud, and virtual environments
There is also a growing trend to combine several types of web server services, such as Apache and IIS, or nginx and IIS, to take advantage of the benefits of each.
Precautions when using IIS
IIS has many strengths, including seamless integration with Microsoft products, but there are a few things to keep in mind when using it.
- When using IIS on client versions of Windows, be aware of the limit on the number of simultaneous connections.
When using IIS on client versions of Windows, there are limits on the maximum number of connections per edition, such as 10 for Pro and above, and 3 for regular editions. If you need more than that, use Windows Server.
- It can only be installed on Windows.
You cannot install and use IIS on other operating systems such as Linux. If you wish to build a web server on another OS, choose Apache or nginx.
Summary
IIS is a web server service provided by Microsoft and is characterized by its seamless integration with Microsoft products. It is also highly future-proof, as it can be used with Microsoft Azure, a cloud service provided by Microsoft.
One of the advantages of IIS, is its ease of operation with the familiar Windows graphical user interface. This is something that is hard to find in other web server services. On the other hand, there are some precautions, such as the fact that it can only be used on Windows and the need to be aware of edition-specific restrictions.
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