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Microsoft Exam 70-087:
Internet Information Server 4.0
Ivan Mayes
Jun 16, 1999
Between juggling the finance department's demands for on-line stock quotes
(why they can't figure out PointCast, I don't know) and Human Resources' attempt
to print 5,000 copies of the employee handbook on a dot-matrix, you barely have
enough time to remember that you have a report on this month's downtime due on
your boss' desk like, yesterday. Not to mention, you'd like to get
up-to-date on the latest and greatest toys... and maybe, just maybe,
squeeze in a little certification?
Well, of course! Here's how to kill two birds (or three or four) with the broad
side of a barn (my apologies to the bird lovers and mixed-metaphor haters).
Internet Information Server (IIS 4.0 in its latest incarnation) is Microsoft's
answer to managing Web and FTP services. It is, for all intents and purposes,
perhaps one of the easiest ways to administer a Web site, publish to FTP or the
Web, and manage your Web resources—even if you're in Bermuda at that TechNet
conference. Using it will free up all kinds of time for the thousand other
emergencies on your desk, and being MS-certified will make a big impression on
managers. Best of all, IIS 4.0 is FREE—it's included in the NT Option Pack.
IIS 4.0 has a sweet little feature in the GUI resource manager. The Microsoft
Management Console (MMC) is something with which you'll need to be very
familiar—it's the future of NT. (If you've installed Windows 2000 Beta 3, you
know exactly what I'm talkin' 'bout, Willis.) It provides you with management
control for your HTML and network administration. Microsoft is very committed to
ensuring that the MMC is the tool for use in the new millennium.
The MMC isn't bad at all. Actually, in a Microsoft kinda way, it's very
intuitive. You can be as vague or as focused as you wish on what you want to
control. Hey, want to set up a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) so a client can dump
data to you from Rio de Janeiro? How about logging the number of unsuccessful
attempts at your port 21? Host multiple sites via one IP address (the Internic
has been getting stingy these last few days...until Ipv6, of course).
Would you like some clues on the Microsoft IIS 4.0 test material?
Boiled down, there are seven facets to the IIS 4 exam. See the chart below for a
crib sheet of info on each. This should provide a basic idea of what's covered
on the Microsoft exam.
Microsoft's iis 4.0 exam categories
| Planning |
HTTP 1.1, WWW, FTP, SMTP, NNTP, Index, Certificate, and
Transaction Servers |
| Installing and Configuring |
IIS needs NT Server 4, at least Service Pack 3 (better
make that 4—SP3 isn't fully Y2K compliant) and IE 4.x or above |
| Configuring and Management |
Resources, access to, basic NT user authentication, Secure
Socket Layer (port 443) |
| Integration and Interoperability |
More ODBC and indexing services than you can shake a stick
at |
| Applications |
The wonderful world of scripting: CGI, Perl, ISAPI |
| Optimizing and Monitoring |
Hey, performance tuning, Andretti |
| Troubleshooting |
Everything you ever wanted to know about HTTP error
messages but was afraid to ask (you know, 404 File not found and its
ilk) |
The IIS 4.0 exam covers these categories.
Once you've got these down, don't forget to take that week's vacation to the
Caribbean. If the Man gives you a hassle, you still have a trump: Just dazzle
him with your omnipotent powers, thanks to your trusty laptop and a hotel room
with a data connection (and a nice view of the crystal blue waters). Microsoft
provides the Internet Service Manager as a way to administer and configure your
IIS server from any PC that's patched into the Internet.
Excuse me. I hear some Bob Marley calling me to party on the beach now.
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