Microsoft Hosters Juiced Over New Server Features

Microsoft is in the midst of a 62-city road show in which the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is providing detailed technical training on how to deploy, run, and manage Windows Server 2008 and IIS 7 (formerly known as Internet Information Server) in a hosting environment.

Michael van Dijken, lead marketing manager for Microsoft's Hosted Solutions division, said many hosting partners that use Windows 2003 and IIS 6 have been asking for improvements in site density, which determines how many active Websites they can fit onto a single server.

With Windows Server 2003 and IIS 6, hosters could squeeze between 500 and 1000 Websites on a single box, but Windows Server 2008 and IIS 7 boosts capacity to between 2000 and 4000 Websites, said van Dijken.

IIS 7's new modular architecture gives hosting partners a range of lightweight deployment options and improves security by shrinking both the footprint and the attack surface, said van Dijken.

It's also possible to create custom modules in IIS that can be incorporated into the build of the server itself. For hosters, this is important because it allows them to offer a "lean, mean stripped down Windows Server without all the stuff you don't need," said Rurik Bradbury, vice president at Intermedia.NET, a New York-based Exchange hosting partner.

"The central kernel of the software can be used for multiple virtual machines on top of that, with each machine being more lean and efficient," Bradbury said.

Microsoft has added advanced diagnostic capabilities in IIS 7 that can trace problems in a single Website on a server, as opposed to in the past when problems could be identified only at the server level. "Being able to trace source of problems is critical to the hosting business," said van Dijken.

Another common challenge for hosting partners is maintaining the security of their servers while delegating as much management responsibility as possible to the end customer, said van Dijken. "With IIS 7, hosters can eliminate overhead and let users manage and administer their own Websites and accounts," van Dijken said.

Windows Server 2008 is slated to be released to manufacturing in the first quarter of 2008.