Setting up the web server

If you have developed websites before, you know that you need to host your site on a web server such as Apache and Internet Information Server (IIS). I will be using IIS, specifically Version 7, in the course of this book; however, feel free to use any other web server you prefer.

Note

Apache is an open source web server which can support multiple operating systems.

IIS stands for Internet Information Server which is the proprietary web server for Microsoft Windows.

Installing IIS

Installing IIS is easy; however, the installation procedure differs based on the operating system you are using. The following steps show how to install it on Windows Server:

1. Open Server Manager, you can find it on the taskbar by default or you can type ServerManager.msc in the run dialog box to access it.
2. From the Server Manager tree on the left-hand side, right-click on the Roles node then click on Add Roles as shown in the following screenshot:
   
3. Click on Next on the Before you Begin page...