Overview of Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003, Web Edition, is a part of the Microsoft® Windows Server 2003 family. It is an easy-to-deploy, easy-to-manage server operating system that is optimized to be a complete Web hosting package.
Windows Server 2003, Web Edition, includes the following features:
Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0, which provides a robust architecture for building and publishing secure Web applications
Revolutionary Microsoft ASP.NET, for deploying Web services and applications rapidly
Remotely administered management, with an easy-to-use, task-driven, internationalized Web user interface (UI)
Remote Desktop for Administration, which provides remote access to the desktop of any computer running a product in the Windows Server 2003 family
Web Interface for Remote Administration, for configuring and managing a server from a remote client, including creating and deleting Web sites, configuring network settings, setting disk quotas, managing local user accounts, and restarting the Web server
Flexibility to use Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and scripting, using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) for detailed control and management
Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV), so that users can easily publish, manage, and share information over the Web
Additional wizards to make it easier for administrators to set up and manage secure authentication and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security
Improved CPU throttling, which helps organizations to allocate CPU resources on a per-site basis
Scalability through Network Load Balancing
Reliability and security improvements for the entire Windows Server 2003 family
Because Windows Server 2003, Web Edition, is optimized for Web serving and hosting, the following features are not included:
Server clusters
Terminal Server (Note that Remote Desktop for Administration is available.)
File Server for Macintosh and Print Server for Macintosh
Infrared (IR) support
Printer and fax sharing
Internet Authentication Service (IAS)
Remote Storage
Remote Installation Services (RIS)
Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) services
Windows Media Services
A server running Windows Server 2003, Web Edition, cannot be established as a domain controller, and it cannot be configured as a host for other server applications, such as Certificate Services, Microsoft Exchange Server, or Microsoft SQL Server.
Virtual private network (VPN) connections are limited to one per media type: local area network (LAN), remote access (dial-up), and direct cable connection. Server Message Block (SMB) connections are limited to 10 simultaneous connections.
Notes
The feature limitations in this topic apply only to computers running the Windows Server 2003, Web Edition, operating system. If you enable Web services, such as IIS, on a computer running Microsoft® Windows Server® 2003, Standard Edition, or Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003, Enterprise Edition, the feature limitations in this topic do not apply.
For the latest product information, see Windows Update at the Microsoft Web site. Windows Update is a catalog of items, such as drivers, patches, the latest Help files, and Internet products, that you can download to keep your computer up to date.