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Principal Infrastructure Solution Architecture at National Bank of Kuwait
Real User
Top 5
Straightforward implementation, reliable, and no license needed
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution has been reliable."
  • "The price of the solution could be less to improve."

What is our primary use case?

We are using IIS for a web and application server.

What is most valuable?

The solution has been reliable.

What needs improvement?

The price of the solution could be less to improve.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IIS for a long time.

Buyer's Guide
IIS
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about IIS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

IIS is a stable solution. However, we use load balancers when we want to scale.

How are customer service and support?

The support from IIS is good compared to other vendors. However, the support is pooling over to the cloud reducing their support for on-premise.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used JBoss and open-source Tomcat. Depending on the use we will use a particular solution. For example, if we use .NET as a core, we will use IIS.

How was the initial setup?

The implementation of IIS is straightforward. We do mostly MSI deployments but sometimes we do it manually.

If automation is used the deployment can be done quickly.

What about the implementation team?

Depending on where we deploy the solution will determine if we use assistance. We use approximately two people for the deployment of the solution. However, The size of the service and the manner in which it is deployed or if it is automated will determine the number of people required for the deployment. Without utilizing such tools, as automation, additional personnel will be necessary. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is no license needed to use the solution.

What other advice do I have?

The newer version of the solution works better.

We use two people for the maintenance of the solution.

I would recommend this solution. If the user is developing around .NET then this solution is needed.

I rate IIS an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Warehouse staff at H&M
Real User
Highly stable solution with excellent management console
Pros and Cons
  • "IIS's best features are its management console and stability."
  • "IIS's memory management could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

I mainly use IIS to support web applications.

What is most valuable?

IIS's best features are its management console and stability.

What needs improvement?

IIS's memory management could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using IIS for over ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

IIS is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

IIS's scalability is good.

How are customer service and support?

Microsoft's technical support is good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously, I used Apache, but it wasn't stable enough.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very easy.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate IIS nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
IIS
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about IIS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
MSP
Top 20
Helpful support, scalable, and quick setup
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup of IIS is easy. The process takes only five minutes."
  • "IIS could improve the error logging. There are times we are not able to see the errors. More details would be helpful. Additionally, the configuring of the IIS should be allowed through coding instead of the classic view."

What is our primary use case?

We are using IIS for many purposes, such as creating the application pools, and websites, and defining the HTTP rules.

What needs improvement?

IIS could improve the error logging. There are times we are not able to see the errors. More details would be helpful. Additionally, the configuring of the IIS should be allowed through coding instead of the classic view.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IIS for approximately eight years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

IIS is a stable solution for .NET applications.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of IIS is good. We can expand the solution if we choose.

We have approximately 30 to 40 people using the solution in my organization.

How are customer service and support?

I was required to use the support from IIS a while ago when we were migrating from IIS 6.0 to IIS 7.0.

I rate the support from IIS a five out of five.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of IIS is easy. The process takes only five minutes.

What other advice do I have?

We chose IIS because most of the applications we use are .NET and are Microsoft technologies that we are using for developing the application, IIS is the most valuable solution for this use case.

For first-time users of IIS, they should have some basic knowledge of what an application pool is, websites, and homepage redirections are.

I rate IIS a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Wai KongWong - PeerSpot reviewer
Information security consultant at Ypsilon System
Real User
Top 5
Provides flexibility and full control over the server, performs well, and is easy to deploy
Pros and Cons
  • "The product is flexible."
  • "The security must be improved."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is used to install and run applications on the server. It's similar to web servers. We host our internal applications on it.

What is most valuable?

We can have full control of the server from the configuration to the OS. The product is flexible. It provides much more flexibility than the cloud.

What needs improvement?

The security must be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution since 2003.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The tool is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability depends on the hardware. We have five users in our organization. We will eventually increase the usage.

How was the initial setup?

It is very easy to deploy the tool. It took us 20 minutes to deploy it. The deployment process is very easy. We just need to prepare the installation and run it on the server.

What about the implementation team?

The solution can be deployed in-house. We do not need any assistance.

What was our ROI?

ROI is good.

What other advice do I have?

We have moved to the cloud. We must assess the vulnerabilities of the server. Then, we must perform the server hardening procedure of Windows. The impact of the product on our strategies depends on our use cases. The performance depends on the hardware. Generally, the tool performs well. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Joonik Jang - PeerSpot reviewer
Operations Team Director at BINGGRAE CO LTD
Real User
Top 5
An easy-to-use and efficient web server solution
Pros and Cons
  • "The tool is very easy to use and efficient."
  • "In the next release, the tool should be more easily integrated and configured with other provisions. The pricing should also be made cheaper since it's very expensive now."

What is our primary use case?

It is used for the REST service.

What is most valuable?

The tool is very easy and efficient.

What needs improvement?

In the next release, the tool should be more easily integrated and configured with other provisions. The pricing should also be made cheaper since it's very expensive now.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it for twenty years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The tool is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is a scalable product. My company has 1000 users for the tool. I have plans to increase the number of users.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously, we used Apache, Orache and Webinar Technologies.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy.

What about the implementation team?

The product was deployed through an in-house team.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The yearly licensing cost is very high. The solution is very expensive.

What other advice do I have?

IIS is a very efficient and stable solution.

I would rate it a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
System Administrator at Confidential
MSP
Easy to install, and integrate with the operating system
Pros and Cons
  • "When you are working with Microsoft solutions, you will see that the integration with the operating system, and implementing some security features, are easier in IIS than when using another solution."
  • "Sometimes if you are using IIS in large-scale scenarios, meaning that if you are deploying an application within IIS service and you are expecting a large number of users to use this application, you can sometimes find some problems, meaning that the service can shut down by itself unexpectedly if you don't configure your IIS with the correct configuration that can handle this number of users."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case is mainly using the IIS service to host web applications so that these applications can be accessed from outside through a web server. 

What is most valuable?

I think that the IIS includes most features that are required by web applications so that they can run smoothly on Windows operating system. And since it is a native service from Microsoft that is part of the Windows Server ecosystem, so performance is good, and compatibility with the operating system also is excellent. The integration also is great with the operating system, and the integration with other Windows Server roles and applications.

When you are working with Microsoft solutions, you will see that the integration with the operating system, and implementing some security features, are easier in IIS than when using another solution. For example, if you want to use single authentication, SSO, or single sign-on, by authenticating yourself with your Windows username and password, when you are logging in to your computer, the IIS can use these credentials to automatically authenticate you in the application without the need to write or to type again your username or password. This is the SSO, the single sign-on, you can implement it quickly and easily in IIS since it is natively developed to work with Windows operating system. You only need to implement the SSO in your application. And once you develop this module and integrate it into your application, you can easily use it with the IIS within Windows.

What needs improvement?

Sometimes if you are using IIS in large-scale scenarios, meaning that if you are deploying an application within IIS service and you are expecting a large number of users to use this application, you can sometimes find some problems, meaning that the service can shut down by itself unexpectedly if you don't configure your IIS with the correct configuration that can handle this number of users.

Some configurations are not that easy to configure, there are a lot of details that you need to specify to tweak your applications. Sometimes, you can find problems, especially with applications that are not developed with .NET languages. If you want your application to perform well and can handle a large number of users, you need to use .NET languages like ASP.NET or other .NET technology. But if you are using for example PHP application, sometimes you can find some performance issues.

I encountered that type of problem, especially when you are using, for example, applications that are not developed in the Windows environment and you want to deploy this application with the IIS, sometimes you will find problems, especially performance-related problems.

For how long have I used the solution?

Frankly, I have been using the solution since 2010. And am still using it when we want to deploy web applications and you want to use a web server. So the IIS is a role within the Windows Server operating system that you can activate to use the web service in the operating system.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's not about stability, but it's more about compatibility. Meaning that, if you are using Microsoft technology, you won't find better than IIS. But if you are using other programming language technologies that aren't Microsoft technologies, you can find yourself facing these kinds of issues. Especially if your application wasn't developed to fully work with IIS. So sometimes you can find this problem, this problem can be caused by the development process of this application. But sometimes even though you will take into consideration the compatibility problem, the IIS won't perform well with other technologies that are not Microsoft.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. You can have as many servers that host IIS so that they can handle the connections from users. And this is where the Failover Cluster service is used, it is used to create a cluster of services so that you can make your service scalable and available.

How are customer service and support?

For Microsoft, if you subscribe for example, to the premium subscription plan, and it depends on the level or the urgency of the ticket or the incident, they will contact you sometimes within the hour if it's a critical problem. But if it's just a simple support ticket, sometimes within 24. It's less than 48 hours before they will call you. It depends on if you want them to assist you by phone or by email. And their support is really great, sometimes they can find the problem within minutes. Yeah, I think it's great.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Frankly, we are using other web server applications like the Apache web server. It depends on the application, and how or what web service application it was developed. If it was developed to be used with the IIS, then we use IIS for that application. If this application was developed for Apache or another web service, then we will install this webserver to run the application. Most of the time when it is a PHP web application, then we will use the Apache web server rather than the IIS. But if it's ASP.NET or another .NET technology, then we will use IIS. Or if we are using, for example, another solution from Microsoft, such as SharePoint or Microsoft Exchange mail servers, et cetera, then we will be forced to use the IIS service. Sometimes, you don't have a choice to choose. If it's a Microsoft solution you want to deploy, you will be forced to use IIS. If it's in-house developed application or you buy a product that needs a web server, then you can choose, but it depends also on the compatibility list of the application.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. It doesn't take much time. It's Windows, it's Microsoft stuff, and with Microsoft, it's about making the installation process easier, you cannot find an easier installation than Microsoft products. It's a role within the Windows Server, so with a number of clicks, you will find yourself ready to use the IIS service.

What about the implementation team?

The implementation was completed in-house. 

Sometimes, I deploy it by myself, and sometimes when another department needs visual machines with Windows Server and the IIS service, I can either install everything by myself or provide them with the virtual machines and the access information credential, et cetera. And the company that will deploy the application for them, it'll be the one that will install the role and configure it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I think it's part of the Windows Server, so you won't have any other costs to add in order to use the IIS service. Meaning that, if you have a license for Windows Server, then automatically you will have also the IIS service available.

What other advice do I have?

I give the solution eight out of ten.

The IIS service version also depends on the version of the Windows Server. So for example, if you are using the Windows Server 2012, it may have an old version compared to the 2022 Windows Server version. It is the last one since we are also using the 2022 Windows Server operating system, so we are using the latest version 6.0.

Most of the time, if it's me who deployed or installed IIS in the first place, I am the one who will maintain it. But if it's another person or another company or its part of the maintenance program, then we will call the other company to do their maintenance tasks.

In my experience, I think that if you want to use IIS, you need to develop your application to be fully compatible with IIS. Meaning that, you need to use Microsoft technologies rather than other languages, for example, Java or PHP or other, Python or anything else. Rather than that them, you need to choose .NET technologies so that you will take advantage of the performance and compatibility of the system with your application. This is what I can recommend people to do in order to use IIS. Because when for example, you acquire an application or a solution that wasn't developed initially for IIS, you need to do many tweaks in the applications and the IIS in order to make it run. And sometimes these types of tweaks can cause you problems in the production environment.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Hüseyin Rıdvanlar - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Project Manager at LTS
Reseller
Top 10
Cloud-based Web-server solution that is easy to use and secure
Pros and Cons
  • "It is an easy-to-use and secure program."
  • "IIS has some stability issues and needs restarting."

What is our primary use case?

My company is a reseller of cloud-based products, and we are using IIS for this.

What is most valuable?

It is an easy-to-use and secure program.

What needs improvement?

The solution can be made more compatible. IIS also has some stability issues and needs restarting.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is mostly stable, but sometimes there are issues and needs a restart. I rate it eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution. Around 50 users are using it presently in our organization.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy, and it took one week to be deployed. For deployment, first, we are planning, second, we are implementing on-premise, and third we are publishing the cloud. For maintenance, we need managers, admins, and engineers.

What other advice do I have?

The solution is simple, and you can find the deployments everywhere. I rate it nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Emanuel Kjellin - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Analyst at Cloud2Go
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Is simple, easy to configure and implement, and is stable and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "IIS is easy to configure in terms of websites and other solutions."
  • "I would like to see NLB features in IIS."

What is our primary use case?

I use IIS to publish our website internally. It helps me to publish information about the teams and provides flexible communication.

What is most valuable?

IIS is easy to configure in terms of websites and other solutions.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see NLB features in IIS.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for 20 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

For stability, I would give a rating of nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability at ten out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

I would rate Microsoft's technical support at ten out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy.

What was our ROI?

We have seen an ROI. We have been able to purchase the solution at a good price and implement it easily. It has been working fine for us.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is good.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend IIS because it's simple, easy to configure and implement, and has good technical support. Overall, I would rate IIS at nine on a scale from one to ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user