Chapter 5: The NNTP Service

Overview

Windows Internet Information Server (IIS) offers a newsgroup server that allows consumers to access and read messages that were posted to a newsgroup established in the newsgroup server. A newsgroup server stores information about each message, such as the person who posted the message, the date and time posted, and the related message in response to which a message was posted.

You can connect and authenticate to the newsgroup server using a news reading program that displays messages similar to an e-mail program, and that lets users view, reply, and forward messages. The newsgroup server is supported by the Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) service, or NNTPSVC. Each given configuration of an IP address and port combination using the NNTP service running on the host server is called an NNTP virtual server. Typically, a host server will have only one NNTP virtual server and it will host multiple newsgroups.

An NNTP virtual server will authenticate users prior to connection, or it can be set to allow anonymous access. You will likely not want to allow anonymous access, however, unless the newsgroup is moderated, because anonymous access can result in unwanted message posting and other misbehavior. You can assign a moderator to validate a message before it is posted to the newsgroup. Usually, the moderator is e-mailed the message and posts it if it’s deemed OK. If the moderator does not approve of the message, the message can be deleted and not posted.

Newsgroups are useful for publishing information and allowing members of the newsgroup to respond in a public forum. The newsgroup forces a consistent content format that enables efficient searching, parsing, and management of the content. Everyone who reads newsgroup postings knows that the messages posted to the newsgroup will at a minimum have the following attributes:

• Subject

• Body

• Sender

• Related message or no related message

• Date and time of posting