Item: Microsoft IIS
Rating: 9
Author: Valery Mezentsau

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I and my IT department currently and previously use Microsoft IIS as the main web server solution for internal and public-facing websites. In a Microsoft environment, I think, this is the best option for the web server. Easy to deploy the server, easy upload websites. Didn't have too many issues with Microsoft ISS, simple to use, saves time on deployment. Our current IIS environment contains not only internal and external websites but several web services that interact with third-party services for identity, fraud detection, etc.

Pros and Cons

Easy to deploy and minimum time for the first startup.
Supports a large variety of web technologies.
Easy website and applications management.
The best integration with Microsoft AD for user authentication.
It is regularly patched.

For some web applications, it takes additional time to configure IIS to make a website work.
IIS logging - it is not the strongest side of the product.
Compared to Apache or Nginx, IIS uses way more system resources.
Even with regular patches, IIS has many vulnerabilities.

Return on Investment

We have a Microsoft based infrastructure, so IIS was the easiest, fastest and cheapest solution.
Short time for deployment, configuration, and integration.
Increased IT performance.

Alternatives Considered

Apache Web Server and Nginx

IIS is easier to configure and manage. Doesn't require deep knowledge of the product to manage it. Doesn't require for IT team to learn Linux/Unix OS for basic web hosting. However, for advanced IT specialists, all three solutions could be useful and can work together.

Other Software Used

FileZilla, Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager, Proofpoint Essentials for Small Business, G Suite, Sophos Endpoint Protection, Sophos Secure Web Gateway, Spiceworks, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Microsoft Office 365

Performance

In my experience, I have never had significant issues with IIS performance. Sometimes I've experienced issues with loading time, but it is mostly related to the web site code. However Amazon, Microsoft and Google providing free cloud services with very limited resources, and in that scenario, "heavy" websites on IIS could be the issue. In other situations - performance is good.

Usability

As I've mentioned earlier, Microsoft IIS is very simple and easy to use. The user interface is a little bit overloaded with a huge number of different options, but once you have a little clue of what you are doing and what you need - no issues at all.

Ease of Integration

If we talking about integration with other Microsoft services - there are no issues at all. Everything is simple, transparent, and works for sure. For other third-party applications and services - depends on those apps and services and how flexible they are for integration. In my professional practice, I haven't had any issues integrating Microsoft IIS with any other services.

Likelihood to Recommend

Microsoft IIS is well suited for simple website hosting and for more complex web application setups as well. Granular security features allow you to make your web site or app to be protected as much as possible. Plus by default the best integration with other Microsoft services like Active Directory, WSUS, SCCM, etc. However, if you need just a basic website that is not based on MS components, open source solutions like Apache or Nginx could be better and cheaper (based on Linux).

There is no place for web sites like IIS

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft IIS