About the Authors

Ken Schaefer is a systems engineer consultant for global systems integrator Avanade. Avanade is a joint partnership between Microsoft and Accenture and focuses on enterprise projects across the Microsoft product stack. Ken has worked with IIS for around 10 years and has been a Microsoft MVP for IIS since 2003. He has presented at numerous Microsoft Tech.Ed events across the United States, Australia, and Asia; written articles for Microsoft TechNet; and spent countless hours talking about IIS at other events, user group meetings, and road shows. He is currently an MCSE, MCDBA, MCTS, and holds a Masters in Business and Technology from UNSW. When he isn't thinking about IIS, Ken can usually be found tinkering with Active Directory, Operations Manager, SQL Server, Windows Media Center, Virtual PC...

Thank you, Julia, Sebastien, and Theo for putting up with the trials, tribulations, and late nights involved in writing a book, again. This would not have been possible without your love and support.

As the lead author, on behalf of all the authors, I'd like to thank Bob Elliot and John Sleeva and the rest of the team from Wiley for their never-ending patience whilst we put this book together.

Jeff Cochran is a Senior Network Specialist for the City of Naples, Florida, and has been employed in the computer networking industry for nearly two decades. Beginning with computer bulletin boards on a Commodore 64 in the early 1980s, he has worked with nearly every method of communication via computer since. In the early 1990s, he started the first commercial ISP in Southwest Florida, using Windows NT 3.51 systems for mail, web, and FTP servers.

Jeff is married to Zina, a self-employed graphic designer, and spends his free time remodeling a 1950s home in Naples. Although most of his personal hobbies revolve around computers, he enjoys Geocaching and collecting pinball machines, and is still addicted to Age of Empires.

Writing for this book, I must thank members of the IIS team, especially Chris, Carlos, Alexis, Mai-lan, Faith, Robert, Anil, Bilal, Eric, and Thomas. I also thank my coauthors for their suggestions and insight.

To Zina, without whom there would be no reason to write.

Scott Forsyth works for ORCS Web, Inc. as the Director of IT. ORCS Web is a Microsoft Certified Partner offering web hosting services utilizing the IIS platform for hosting of ASP.NET, SharePoint, SQL Server, Exchange and other technologies. He is a Microsoft MVP for ASP.NET, an ASP Insider and has multiple MCP certifications.

Scott is married and has two kids, Joel and Alisha, who don't work with IIS yet but do spend countless hours on the computer. When he's not in front of a computer, Scott leads a youth group at his local church, plays the drums and enjoys playing table tennis.

For my wife, Melissa, and my children, Joel and Alisha, who patiently support me in work and writing.

Rob Baugh is the VP of IT for Anres Technologies. He has been in the IT field since 1999 and has worked with IIS the entire time. He has multiple Microsoft Certified Professional certifications.

Rob is married to Stacy and they have one daughter, Emily. His passion (when away from computers) is scuba diving, so he recently relocated to Merida, Mexico to be closer to the blue waters of the Caribbean.

Thanks to my ever faithful bride, Stacy, for supporting me throughout the many late nights spent writing.

Mike Everest has had an interest in computing from the time he first laid eyes on a PC at high school in 1978. He operated a series of Bulletin Board Systems throughout the 1980s while completing his undergraduate studies and experimenting with early Internet technologies.

Mike began working with web servers in the early 1990s and established the first commercial web hosting platform in his regional hometown of Geelong, Australia. Since then, specializing in Internet infrastructure, hosting services, and ISP systems, he has participated in establishing and developing no fewer than seven technology companies, sold two, and maintains an ongoing interest in three.

Mike is delighted to have had the opportunity to contribute to this book and is more than happy to receive comments, questions, and criticisms from readers.

Special thanks to all of the IIS 7.0 team at Microsoft, for without such an excellent product we would have nothing to write about.

Dennis Glendenning (MA, MBA, MCSA+Msg, MCSE, PMP) is a Principal Systems Engineer with Avanade, where he provides design and delivery leadership for large-scale technology integration projects. Dennis's background includes graduate training, professional certifications, and a blend of technical and project management experience that spans more than 15 years. In addition to delivering technology architectures for Fortune 500 companies, Dennis has led several eCommerce infrastructure teams to leverage IIS in the public safety, insurance, and financial industries. Although he travels the United States for work, Dennis lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife and two children, and he revels in hiking, history, great speeches, and epic FPS PC games. Dennis can be reached at dglendenni@hotmail.com.

I would like to thank Ken Schaefer for offering the opportunity to contribute and for coordinating many tasks among the authors. John Sleeva has my thanks for doing a fantastic job editing, with much of the quality of my contributions due to John's terrific advice. Finally, Greg Molnar also has my gratitude, for giving support and accommodations, advice, and friendship during this project.

To my lovely wife and new mother, Melissa Jean, and to our amazing children, Jessica and Nicolas: May you see, do, and love all that life promises.