Chapter 18: Managing an Intranet Web Server

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Overview

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 automatically installs and configures Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 to serve as an intranet Web server. As such, Windows Small Business Server enables such features as the http://companyweb SharePoint intranet site (discussed in Chapter 17, “Customizing a SharePoint Web Site”), the Network Configuration Wizard, Remote Web Workplace, and Outlook Web Access (all discussed in Chapter 12, “Managing Computers on the Network”).

In general, IIS doesn’t require much configuration for use on an intranet; however, you might occasionally need to create additional virtual directories, enable or disable anonymous access to a site, place limits on network bandwidth and CPU utilization, or configure File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or the Indexing Service. This chapter helps you perform these tasks and a few other tasks appropriate for small businesses hosting intranet Web sites.

More Info 

Sources for more information about IIS include Microsoft IIS 6.0 Administrators Companion by William Stanek (Microsoft Press, 2003) and the Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Resource Kit (Microsoft Press, 2004).

Real World

Hosting Your Own Internet Web Site

Internet-accessible Web servers sit on the front lines of a virtual battlefield, exposed to continual assault by hackers and script-kiddies (neophyte hackers using polished hacking applications and pre-built scripts to launch attacks). For this reason, small businesses should use a Web hosting company to host their public Internet Web sites. Alternatively, companies can use dedicated Windows Server 2003 Web Edition computers placed in a perimeter network to host their public Web sites, and keep these computers locked down and updated with the latest patches. Public Web sites shouldn’t be hosted by Windows Small Business Server 2003.

Although these recommendations are standard best practices for server security, you’ll probably want to stray a little bit and open your firewalls to allow your Windows Small Business Server to act as an Internet-accessible Web server for the purpose of hosting your Remote Web Workplace. You can reduce the risks involved by configuring your Windows Small Business Server firewall to publish only the Remote Web Workplace, not the default Web site.

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