Tips for Setting Up IIS and Site Server

As the Microsoft Site Server installation guide explains, Site Server 3.0 requires that you increase the page size to at least 128MB; each processor must have 256MB. Therefore, the team changed the default page size in the Microsoft Visual InterDev development server to 128MB per processor. You can change the page size by right-clicking the My Computer icon on the server's desktop and selecting Properties. Select the Performance tab, then click Change under Virtual Memory. Change the initial size to at least 128MB. If you don't have enough memory to make this change, you won't be able to run Site Server. Select OK to close the windows, and restart your computer to make the changes take effect.

With regard to disk partitions on IIS servers, I partition all my IIS server's disks onto at least two drives. I like to keep system files and applications files that run on the server on the C drive and Internet files on the D drive. This setup, although not required, has saved me many times from intruders, misbehaving applications, and disk failures. If I need to, I can rebuild or restore the C drive, even if I have to format it, without endangering content or databases. Some administrators like to use a third partition for their database, which is also a good practice.

Another problem that this practice has saved us from is the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Library installation. The MSDN Library for Visual InterDev is wonderfully complete and, therefore, huge. If you aren't careful when you select the type of installation, the library will install on your C drive, which can use up the disk space that you need for other applications and processes. Another important planning consideration when you're setting up Visual InterDev is that Visual InterDev keeps two copies of all Web sites—one copy on the server in its Web site and the other copy as a local copy in a deeply buried subdirectory on the C drive. I've had bad luck with developers losing track of projects when they've specified alternative directory structures, so I recommend accepting the default. The second copy isn't a problem if you plan for it and leave lots of space on the C drive. Microsoft FrontPage 2000 has adopted a similar strategy of keeping a second deeply buried copy of the Web site, but FrontPage is very subtle about the process. Again, you won't have a problem as long as the C drive is large enough.

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