IIS: Better than Apache?

I've heard that IIS has great options and such, and I even have it on my win2003 machine. But I'm wondering: Is it better than Apache? If so, I've heard of security concerns with IIS. Are there major security problems with IIS? If not, then does it have an alternative to cPanel (as I've heard)?

There are always security problems when you're dealing with web server software. Neither IIS or Apache are immune. Historically, IIS has had some ugly problems. IIS6 is really pretty good, and has addressed a lot of these issues. Won't really go into more detail than that.

Apache is ubiquitous, works well and has a lot of modules to extend functionality. I would say that the LAMP (Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP/Perl) open source platform is great. I personally manage/use Microsoft/IIS at work. I would say your end-goal is important to keep in mind. If your users are developing ASP/ASP.NET apps, stick with Windows + IIS. If you don't need ASP and you're comfortable with Linux, I would go Linux. In an ISP environment, you really see both, although I am curious as to how much more administration goes into administering IIS vs. Apache. I have the feeling IIS requires more adminstration time.

BTW, If you/anyone finds an IIS version of a web site control panel close to cPanel, let me know, I'm interested. I know cPanel is developing an IIS version.

I heard IIS had it's own weird cPanel thing. I know nothing of IIS, I run my site on Apache, which has worked fine for the past year. I'm just thinking of switching to IIS, but I heard of stuff like constant port scans and stuff. I'm concerned, because the server that has IIS on it is also a nameserver for 2 domains, which 790+ users explicitly depend on, so I'm very concerned with security.

I heard of zPanel, but I couldn't get it working (some problem connecting to mySQL?).

Would you recommend IIS over Apache for a basic webserver that I have? The webserver is seperate from the eMail, so don't worry about taking that into consideration. When I say webserver I mean HTTP.

-Xbot

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

IIS is fine. Apache is fine. Each have their pluses and minuses.

IIS shines in an Intranet envrionment with lots of MS desktops, you can integrate web and applications much easier than an Apache environment.

If you have a W2K or XP Pro workstation, I'd say turn on the local IIS and play around, see how you like it.

xbot,

IIS doesn't quite have the same thing as a "cPanel"; it's called Internet Services Manager (ISM, or IISM in later versions), and it lets you configure web and FTP sites.

Your port scanning issue is totally unrelated to IIS; you'll be affected by that with Apache as well! The things that will improve security on your machine are:
--good security practices (such as strong passwords)
--making sure your computer is patched with the latest OS updates
--making sure you have antivirus actively installed & running
--making sure you are using a good physical or software firewall.

I've been using IIS for around 4 years now in a corporate environment; my latest installation has around 4500 web site users and many gigabytes worth of data, is very stable and runs very well. Really once you lock down IIS, the inherent security concerns of IIS, especially IIS 6 are quite minimal.

If you're happy with Apache, really there is no need to change. As Doug G said, play with IIS & see if you like it.

cranbo, you use IIS often then? Could you help me configure and install it? I'm new to this whole hosting business. I've worked with eMail and FTP for a while, but IIS is brand new to me. I have win2003, I'll edit this post with the version of IIS in just a sec..

EDIT: Version is 6.0

installation of IIS 6.0 is easy:

go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs
choose "add or remove Windows components"
Select "Internet Information Services Manager"
Select "Details"
Make sure you choose at least "WWW Service" and "FTP Service" if you plan on running web and FTP sites
Click OK a bunch of times. You may need the Win2K3 CD
You're pretty much done. If you want to enable ASP pages, you do so through IISM (IIS Manager, located in Administrative Tools). IIS 6 serves static pages by default.

To configure your web site, launch IISM (Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Internet Information Services Manager), open the local computer icon, then open the "Web Sites" folder and right-click on "Default Web Site", choose Properties and configure to your hearts content.

Hope this helps,
cranbo

I already have it. I think it's all there, but I'll check. Is there any automatic registration feature to sign up for webspace? If so, I'm definetly going with IIS.