IIS Web Server Administration

In IIS 7.0, each application pool has a baseline memory footprint of approximately 3 MB of private bytes and 5 MB of page file usage. This is the minimum memory overhead for a worker process before the actual application code even starts executing. Options B and C swap or zero out values incorrectly, while D is incorrect because application pools have fixed overhead costs.

IIS supports failed request tracing (also called FREB - Failed Request Event Buffering) at the server level, which can be applied to all websites on that server. This can be configured through IIS Manager, appcmd commands, or configuration files. The feature captures detailed information about requests that fail based on specific status codes or error conditions.

IIS application pools can have memory limits configured through several settings: 'Private Memory Limit' (kernel-mode limit on private bytes), 'Virtual Memory Limit' (limits virtual address space), and 'Request Memory Limit' (per-request memory threshold). When these limits are exceeded, IIS can recycle the worker process, take no action, or trigger other configurable responses. This prevents runaway processes from consuming all server memory.

The 'iisreset /disable' command prevents the IIS service from being restarted. This is useful during maintenance windows when you want to ensure IIS stays stopped. Option A without any flags would actually restart IIS. Option B uses 'inetmgr' which opens the IIS management console, not a command-line tool. Option D uses a nonexistent flag - the correct flag is '/disable'. Note: The command is typically case-insensitive, so 'IISreset' and 'iisreset' both work.

IIS 6.0 stores its configuration in an XML file called 'metabase.xml' located in the %SystemRoot%\system32\inetsrv\ directory. Unlike earlier versions of IIS that used a binary metabase format, IIS 6.0 made the configuration human-readable and editable XML. This was a significant improvement for administration and backup/recovery. Note that IIS 7.0 and later moved to a different configuration system using .config XML files instead.

IIS 6.0 offers three execution permission levels for virtual directories: 'None' (no script execution, only static files), 'Scripts Only' (allows scripts like ASP and CGI but not binaries), and 'Scripts and Executables' (allows all types including EXE and DLL files). 'Read Only' is not an execution permission - it's a separate access permission that controls whether users can view file content. These execution permissions are set in IIS Manager through the Virtual Directory properties.

In IIS 7.0, the Windows Activation Process (WAS) is responsible for managing worker processes. WAS receives incoming requests from http.sys and decides which worker process should handle each request based on the application pool configuration. It also manages worker process lifecycle (starting, stopping, recycling). Option A (http.sys) is the kernel-mode driver that listens for HTTP requests but doesn't manage processes. Option C appears to be a service name fragment, not a process. Option D is not a valid IIS component.

HTTP 5xx status codes (500-599) indicate server-side errors - the server failed to fulfill a valid request. Common examples include 500 Internal Server Error, 502 Bad Gateway, 503 Service Unavailable. The 100 series are informational responses, 200 series indicates success, and 400 series indicates client errors (bad requests from the client side). When you see a 500 error, the problem is with the server or application, not with something the client did wrong.

HTTP 1xx status codes (100-199) are informational responses. They indicate that the server has received the request and is continuing processing. Examples include 100 Continue (client should continue with its request) and 101 Switching Protocols. These are not errors - they're interim responses. The 200 series indicates success, 300 series indicates redirection, and 400 series indicates client errors. Note: The question phrasing 'information errors' is slightly misleading - these are informational responses, not errors.

HTTP 404 errors fall under the 4xx series, which indicates client errors. Specifically, 404 means 'Not Found' - the client requested a resource that doesn't exist on the server. The question has an error - it says '404 bad request error' but 400 is 'Bad Request' while 404 is 'Not Found'. Despite this terminology issue, the core concept is correct: 404 indicates a client-side error (the client asked for something that isn't there), not a server failure, success response, or redirection.

appcmd.exe is the IIS 7.0 command-line tool for managing application pools. The correct syntax is 'appcmd recycle apppool "AppPoolName"' to recycle a specific pool. iisreset.exe restarts the entire IIS service rather than individual app pools.

IIS 7.0 and later versions support creating a new application pool by copying the configuration from an existing one. This can be done through the IIS Manager interface by right-clicking an existing app pool and selecting 'Add Application Pool' or by using appcmd.exe with template parameters.

A Web Farm (or Web Garden at the process level) is when the same application is hosted across multiple servers using Network Load Balancing (NLB). This provides redundancy, scalability, and improved performance by distributing requests across servers. Application Pool is a worker process isolation boundary, not a multi-server architecture.

In IIS 7.0, the default identity for application pools is 'Network Service' (specifically the NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE account). This account has limited privileges compared to Local System, making it more secure. Local System has excessive privileges and is not the default.

IIS 6.0's default application pool is named 'DefaultAppPool'. This pool is created during IIS installation and is configured to use the .NET Framework 2.0 in integrated pipeline mode. It serves as the default assignment for new web applications unless otherwise specified.

IIS 7.0 includes two default application pools: 'DefaultAppPool' (using the Integrated pipeline mode) and 'ClassicAppPool' (using the Classic ISAPI mode). The Integrated mode is the new default that unifies IIS and ASP.NET pipelines, while Classic mode maintains backward compatibility with IIS 6.0 applications.

LocalSystem (also written as Local System) is a built-in Windows account with the highest privileges on the local machine. It has extensive system access including registry, file system, and service manipulation. LocalService and NetworkService have significantly reduced privileges for security.

In Windows Server 2003, the default IIS log location is C:\WINDOWS\system32\LogFiles\W3SVC1, where W3SVC1 represents the default website's instance ID. Each website has its own W3SVC# subdirectory. The path structure is consistent across IIS 6.0 installations.

aspnet_regiis -i is the correct command to register ASP.NET with IIS. This tool installs the client-side scripts, maps the ASP.NET file extensions to the ISAPI handler, and updates the IIS metabase. The -i flag installs these mappings, while -r re-installs them. regsvr32 is for registering COM/ActiveX DLLs, not .NET.