1.8. Web-Based Services

Finally, there's the subset of the Internet that's become more important than all the rest of the 'Net put together: the Web and related services. They're important to Windows, and they've seen some big changes in 2008 and 2008 R2.

1.8.1. Web Server (IIS)

Windows' file services may not have changed much over the years, but that's not the case for Windows' web server. In the 90s, Windows Server's built-in web server software, Internet Information Services (IIS), changed rapidly to keep pace with the then-breakneck speed of Internet innovation. Then, in the first decade of the 21st century, IIS still had to run hard to keep up, but this time it was keeping up with the security needs facing any piece of software directly connected to an Internet that got scarier with the month. 2000's IIS 5.0 showcased a powerful web platform, but its vulnerabilities (which made possible the Code Red and Nimda worms) led 2003's IIS 6.0 to be a much harder-to-crack server.