What's new in ISA Server 2006

  • Article

Microsoft® Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 builds on the functionality of ISA Server 2004 to enable and optimize secure Web publishing scenarios, including Microsoft Windows® SharePoint® Services publishing, Microsoft Outlook® Web Access publishing, publishing of multiple Web sites, and publishing of Web server farms. ISA Server 2006 provides a greater variety of authentication methods, improved digital certificate management, and a new flood attack mitigation feature. ISA Server 2006 also includes enhancements such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) compression, which enables efficient, more easily configurable communication between branch offices.

The new features of ISA Server 2006 are described briefly in this topic, and in detail in the online document What's New in ISA Server 2006 at ISA Server Guidance. (https://www.microsoft.com/)

Secure Web publishing and single sign-on

ISA Server 2006 focuses on secure Web publishing, making your internal Web resources available on the Internet, securely and efficiently. ISA Server 2006 supports more authentication methods, validation mechanisms, and delegation options. New wizards make it easier for you to publish Outlook Web Access, SharePoint Portal Server, and multiple Web sites. ISA Server also supports load balancing between servers in a farm of Web servers. Improved link translation capabilities ensure that your Web links work for external clients.

The new single sign-on function allows users to move safely from one application to another, without having to reauthenticate. For example, using ISA Server 2006, an authenticated user can move securely and seamlessly from Outlook Web Access to a SharePoint site by clicking a link in an e-mail message, without reauthenticating.

Branch office support

ISA Server 2006 also supports the branch office scenario, making it easier to securely connect branch offices over a virtual private network (VPN) and enabling more efficient HTTP communication between branch office and main office facilities.

Upgrading from ISA Server 2004 to ISA Server 2006

For information about upgrading from ISA Server 2004 to ISA Server 2006, see the online document Upgrading to ISA Server 2006 at ISA Server Guidance. (https://www.microsoft.com/)