Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
PeerSpot user
Systems Analyst/DBA at Vecima Networks
Real User
Leaderboard
For us it's a lightweight web host that is easy to configure for simple webpages
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a lightweight web host that is easy to configure for simple webpages."
  • "Finding different settings can be difficult if you don't know where to look."

How has it helped my organization?

It allowed us to set up and use a Windows Server we had in place already to host our internal web page.

What is most valuable?

It is a lightweight web host that is easy to configure for simple webpages.

What needs improvement?

Finding different settings can be difficult if you don't know where to look.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.
Buyer's Guide
IIS
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about IIS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,636 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability seems good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not needed to scale out with it, as we use it for very lightweight things.

How are customer service and support?

I have not needed to contact technical support.

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

I have tried other tools (such as Apache), and found that IIS is more stable and easier on the memory for low resource systems.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup is straightforward for a basic setup (e.g. one host hosting HTTP traffic), but can get more complicated the more features you want to add (e.g. Windows Authentication, HTTPs, web farm, etc.).

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

It is licensed with your Windows installation which makes it relatively cheap if you already have a Windows Server sitting around.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also evaluated Apache, but found that IIS was easier to set up for what we wanted.

What other advice do I have?

Give it a shot. The features are included for free with Windows, so test it out. If you are unhappy, it is easy to disable and switch to a different solution.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Alex Clerici - PeerSpot reviewer
System Integrator IT Manager at Tecnimex S.r.l.
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Helps to work with web application but needs to improve security, support and pricing
Pros and Cons
  • "We use the solution for our customer's web applications."
  • "IIS needs to improve its security. Its support needs to be faster and clear. The tool's licensing could be cheaper as well."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for our customer's web applications. 

What needs improvement?

IIS needs to improve its security. Its support needs to be faster and clear. The tool's licensing could be cheaper as well. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the IIS for 15-20 years. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

My company has 200 users for IIS. 

How was the initial setup?

The tool's setup is simple. 

What about the implementation team?

We did not use a consultant for the product's setup. 

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

IIS is expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate IIS a seven out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
IIS
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about IIS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,636 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Principal Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
MSP
Stable solution and has an easy initial setup process
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is easy to use."
  • "The solution's scalability needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution to build web-based applications and platforms.

What is most valuable?

The solution is easy to use.

What needs improvement?

The solution's scalability needs improvement.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is reasonably stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution's scalability could be better.

How was the initial setup?

The solution's initial setup process is straightforward.

What other advice do I have?

If you're looking for a scalable solution, look at alternatives other than IIS. But it serves the purpose if you're looking for a small to medium solution. I rate it an eight.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Geospatial Services Systems Administrator at EDIC Bayanat
Real User
Easy to use GUI, but support for clustering needs to be included in this solution
Pros and Cons
  • "The graphical user interface makes it easy for users to configure the sites."
  • "This solution needs to be easier for cases where you want to have an IIS cluster."

What is our primary use case?

We have a GIS solution from ESRI, ArcGIS Web Adaptor, and it is installed on top of IIS. It's part of ArcGIS Enterprise solution.

What is most valuable?

The graphical user interface makes it easy for users to configure the sites. 

What needs improvement?

This solution needs to be easier for cases where you want to have an IIS cluster. If you have several IIS solutions running, it is not clear on how to make them communicate to each other. Normally, IIS Web Server run independently on each server. To have "IIS cluster", currently you need to have a network load balancer (NLB) appliance running in front of them. We use NLB to distribute the load and have high-availability of IIS Web Server.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for more than twenty years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is stable. However, because of the way IIS interacts with the application pool, it is possible that another application running in different application pool, can have an impact to other application pool. Theoretically, each application pool will have independent process and should not conflicting between each other.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is something that we are looking into because we want to have IIS Web Server that can communicate between each other. So far, we cannot find this options inside it, anywhere on the menu.

In our office, we only have few people who use this solution and we don't have a plans to increase its usage. It is for internal publishing only.

But for our client, we implement this solution in production environment and so far, no critical issue happened to run IIS Web Server on it.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have not been in contact with technical support. So far, we have been able to handle all issues.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of this solution is simple. Even if you aren't familiar with it, it is not complex. If you are installing it inside Windows Server, it will take less than half an hour to deploy. In most cases, it can be done in fifteen minutes.

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

This solution comes included with Windows Server.

What other advice do I have?

My advice for anybody who is considering this solution is to go ahead with it. This is a mature product that is suitable for production environment. It competes with the Linux-based web server, which has more features. However, Microsoft is becoming more friendly with the open-source community, so hopefully they will implement more advanced features inside IIS.

It seems to me that Microsoft has been evolving the product with one of the main goals to be ease of use. However, I think that they need to focus on handling the biggest load. 

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user1153596 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Administrator at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
A stable solution for our customer's websites or internal applications
Pros and Cons
  • "This is definitely a stable solution."
  • "The areas of this solution that need improvement are monitoring, debugging, and troubleshooting."

What is our primary use case?

We are a system integrator and this is one of the solutions that we assist our customers with. Our customers are primarily government departments, agencies, and ministries. These organizations are not very comfortable with using the cloud, so the majority of deployments are on-premises.

This solution is used for the customer's website or internal applications.

What needs improvement?

The areas of this solution that need improvement are monitoring, debugging, and troubleshooting. Having the monitoring as standard on the user interface would be nice.

There needs to be an easy way to escalate technical support issues beyond level one, quickly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for more than fifteen years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is definitely a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is neither here nor there. You can say it's scalable, but it's an open-ended question because you have to consider whether you can host an application or product for country-wide use. I'd like to say no, but it can be used as part of a scalable infrastructure.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have contacted technical support, albeit rarely. I would rate them a six out of ten. It is not that they are slow to reply, but rather they are slow when it comes to understanding the problem. They often repeat the diagnostic steps that we have already performed.

The first level of support is not very good because by the time we speak with them, we are already past that point. This is because we do have experience and we can often solve the problems that are easy, or of medium-level difficulty. Consequently, if we have to open a support request then the problem is already difficult or complicated. We need to be able to escalate quickly. This is true in most cases, and the delay comes about because of the entry-level support people.

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

In addition to this solution, we have worked with Apache Tomcat for Linux.

The choice of solution is dictated by the customer's requirements. If it is a Java application then we need to use Tomcat or Apache. If it's a .NET application in use then you need to use the IIS. It isn't a personal choice, or whether one is better than the other. Rather, it is about the application.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of this solution is very easy. The deployment takes between thirty minutes and two hours, maximum.

Usually, it will take one or two people to maintain this solution, including the website, if the whole infrastructure is Microsoft.

What about the implementation team?

We implement and deploy this solution for our customers. We have an internal technical team for this.

What other advice do I have?

This is a solution that I can recommend.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Yekutiel Cohen - PeerSpot reviewer
Penetration tester at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
A scalable solution with easy setup but needs to have a fast black box
Pros and Cons
  • "The product is scalable."
  • "The solution's black box is not fast."

What needs improvement?

The solution's black box is not fast. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the solution's stability a six out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable. 

How was the initial setup?

The tool's setup is straightforward. 

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

The product's price is not high. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate the solution a five out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Yekutiel Cohen - PeerSpot reviewer
Penetration tester at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Stability and performance can improve, but highly scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is highly reliable."
  • "The solution is slow and could have better performance."

What is our primary use case?

I am using IIS in our organization to manage the flow of the Active Directory.

How has it helped my organization?

The solution can be deployed on-premise and on the cloud.

What is most valuable?

The solution is highly reliable.

What needs improvement?

The solution is slow and could have better performance.

For how long have I used the solution?

I used IIS within the last 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the stability of IIS a six out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of IIS is easy.

What about the implementation team?

I am able to deploy the solution myself.

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

There is a license needed for the solution.

What other advice do I have?

I do not like the solution but I have no choice but to use it. I prefer open-source solutions, such as Linux.

I rate IIS a five out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
DevOps at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Real User
A stable, somewhat scalable solution that needs lots of training when elements are upgraded
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is the easiest way to publish applications which have been designed by older development tools."
  • "The scalability depends on how you have set it up. If you're running IIS on a single server, it might not be as capable as if you are on many in a cluster or with load balancing and so on."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for a publishing website.

What is most valuable?

The solution is the easiest way to publish applications which have been designed by older development tools.

What needs improvement?

Different parameters in this product can be a bit difficult. As soon as you introduce something new, and especially in the Microsoft environment, you always need to do new training sessions to understand what are new functionalities are. Finding the correct options are not more intuitive, and it should be.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution pretty much since it was first released.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability depends on how you have set it up. If you're running IIS on a single server, it might not be as capable as if you are on many in a cluster or with load balancing and so on.

How are customer service and technical support?

We don't a contact for technical support, so I mostly have to cross my fingers and hope that nothing goes wrong.

How was the initial setup?

I wasn't around for the initial setup, but I can say that we started fairly simple, and it's grown more and more complex as time has gone on.

What other advice do I have?

We use the on-premises deployment model.

The solution is stable, it is working, and you can do a lot with this, but it is not my favorite product. I would prefer to use something that was open-source instead. I would rate it seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IIS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: November 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IIS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.