Question 2: How Much Do You Leverage IIS?
Windows 2003's new Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 is vastly improved over its predecessor. Some of the features IIS 6.0 brings to the table are kernel-mode operation, a built-in IIS Lockdown Wizard, effective bandwidth throttling, and a default-logon change from Interactive to Network. Also, IIS 6.0 is simply much faster and more secure. (For more information about IIS 6.0, see "IIS 6.0 Features," May 2003, http://www.winnetmag.com, InstantDoc ID 38496.) If your organization uses IIS in any capacity, you'll want to take a look at the upgrade. But for the purposes of this quiz, consider how often you use IIS.
If your current use of IIS 5.0 is
- heavy, add 8 points
- medium, add 4 points
- light, add 2 points
- nonexistent, add 0 points
Additionally, if you currently use IIS 5.0 in front of a firewall in the public address space, give yourself an additional 2 points. IIS 6.0's stronger security features are alone a worthy investment.
Question 3: How Much Do You Leverage Clustering?
Both Windows 2003, Datacenter Edition and Windows 2003, Enterprise Edition support more nodes than their Win2K counterparts do. Windows 2003 Datacenter supports eight-node clusters (increased from four), and Windows 2003 Enterprise supports eight-node clusters (increased from two). Windows 2003, Standard Edition doesn't support clustering but now includes the Network Load Balancing (NLB) feature—a welcome addition. With these improvements in mind, here's how to score:
If your business's current use of clustering/NLB is
- heavy, add 4 points
- medium, add 2 points
- light, add 1 point
You can use Windows 2003 NLB to perform front-end routing for Windows 2003 Terminal Services. This feature is a great way to implement inexpensive load-balanced terminal server farms. If you plan to use NLB this way, add another 2 points.
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