Overview of Windows Server 2003 Web Edition

Designed for dedicated Web serving and hosting, Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, delivers a single-purpose solution for Internet service providers, application developers, and others who use or deploy specific Web functionality. Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, takes advantage of improvements in Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0, Microsoft ASP.NET, and the Microsoft .NET Framework to make it easier to build and host Web applications, Web pages, and XML Web services.

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	Customer Benefits
	Availability
	Usage
	Limitations
	Additional Resources
	Summary

Customer Benefits

Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, provides the following benefits to customers:

• A highly effective platform for ASP.NET–based intranet and Internet deployments. Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, includes the newly re-architected IIS 6.0, ASP.NET, and the Microsoft .NET Framework.
• Dedicated Web-serving functionality that supports two-way symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), 2 gigabytes (GB) of RAM, and 10 in-bound server message block (SMB) connections for content publishing.
• An economical Web server that is competitively priced for self-hosting organizations needing to deploy Web pages, Web sites, Web applications, and Web services rapidly.

As with every member of the Windows Server 2003 family, Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, is built on industry standards that allow organizations to extend existing Web applications and quickly develop new ones. Web developers not only can build Web pages, but also Web services that can communicate with other platforms using standards-based interfaces like XML and SOAP. This level of cost-effective application development encourages business productivity and flexibility and also increases business solution opportunities.

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Availability

Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, is available:

• To Microsoft customers with Enterprise, Select, and Open licensing agreements.
• To service providers with a service provider licensing agreement (SPLA).
• Through Microsoft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and System Builder partners.

For more information, see the How to Buy resources.

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Usage

Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, can be used solely to deploy Web pages, Web sites, Web applications, and Web services. Customers can use Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, to install the following:

• Web server software; for example, IIS.
• Web availability management software; for example, Microsoft Application Center.

Installations of non-Web serving applications are prohibited. ASP.NET-based applications that include code written in third-party programming languages can include that programming language's runtime components. For non-Web serving applications, you should consider Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition.

Client access licenses (CALs) do not apply to Windows Server 2003 Web Edition. However, Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, can be used as the scale-out front end for applications such as Windows SharePoint Services and Windows Rights Management Services. In these scale-out configurations, Windows Server CALs and/or Exchange CALs may still be required.

In these types of configurations, Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, offers customers an economical way to deploy scale-out applications, thanks to the competitively priced licensing model.

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Limitations

Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, is designed specifically for dedicated Web serving needs, and its functionality has certain limitations as follows:

• Although computers running Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, can be members of a Microsoft Active Directory service domain, Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, cannot be a domain controller. Consequently, organizations cannot use Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, alone to apply certain management features, including Group Policy, Software Restriction Policies, Remote Installation Services, Microsoft Metadirectory Services, Internet Authentication Service (IAS), and others.
• Organizations cannot use Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, to deploy enterprise Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) services. UDDI is an essential component for enabling discovery and reuse of XML Web services.
• Organizations cannot use Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, to deploy Microsoft SQL Server, other than SQL Server 2005 Express Edition.

For these capabilities, the following editions of Windows Server 2003 can be used instead:

• Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition
• Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition
• Windows Server 2003 R2, Datacenter Edition

Small businesses evaluating their first general-purpose server should consider Windows Small Business Server 2003.

All the core features in Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, including IIS 6.0, .NET Framework, and ASP.NET, are also included in the other members of the Windows Server 2003 family. To compare features, go to Compare the Editions of Windows Server 2003.

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Additional Resources

For more information about the features and capabilities found in Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, see the following related articles:

• What's New in Internet Information Services 6.0
• Technical Overview of Internet Information Services 6.0
• Introducing the Windows Server 2003 Family

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Summary

Specifically designed as a single-purpose Web server, Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, delivers the next generation of Web infrastructure capabilities to Windows server operating systems.

Service providers and self-hosting organizations in need of advanced Web functionality benefit from this economical and efficient Web server operating system. Integrated with the newly re-architected IIS 6.0, ASP.NET, and the .NET Framework, Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, enables any organization to deploy Web pages, Web sites, Web applications, and Web services rapidly.

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