• How do I use an IPsec Packet Filter to protect my Windows server?
• How do I increase the connection limit for IIS 5.1 on Windows XP Pro?
• How do I rewrite a URL in IIS like mod_rewrite for Apache?
• How do I run Perl under IIS?
• Can I manage my IIS installation from another computer running Windows?

It doesn't matter if you are running Apache or IIS, Windows leaves a lot of vulnerable ports open.

Check which of your ports are open by going to this site's port scan tool /scan

In security, you want to adopt a "belt and suspenders" approach to most things. In this case you may want to use second second port scan tool. A well known port scan tool you can try is ShieldsUP! at »www.grc.com/ (skip through the cover page by clicking the ShieldsUP! logo then find the link for the test, about halfway down the page, click through the disclaimer, then click "all service ports").

If you are running Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2003 Server, or Windows XP Professional, you can use the built in IPsec facility to make a packet filter. The IPsec facility allows you very granular filtering: by IP address, port, and protocol.

If you have XP Home, you can't set up an IPsec packet filter. Your best move is to upgrade to XP SP2 and use its built-in firewall.

If you are running a public web server you really should consider one, even if you already have a firewall.

To setup an IPsec packet filter on Windows 2003 Server see »www.microsoft.com/technet/prodte···159.mspx
For more information, including Windows 2000 Server, see »www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolu···cld.mspx

You should also consider using a packet filter if you take your laptop to public hotspots, or you move it between the network at home and the network at work.

There's no substitute for keeping your system up to date: Windows Update is your friend. Run it at least once a week on your production servers, and set all your clients to install patches automatically.

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by big greg
last modified: 2005-11-04 14:23:17

Windows XP Professional runs IIS version 5.1, which comes with a 10 connection limit. Often that's not enough when you are testing a site from multiple browsers (or multiple locations). You can easily increase the limit to the hardcoded maximum: 40 connections.

Make a command prompt window (start, run, cnd.exe) and issue these commands.

cd \inetpub\adminscripts
cscript adsutil.vbs set w3svc/MaxConnections 40
iisreset
 

The first command connects you to the adminscripts folder. The second command runs a script that sets the MaxConnections value in the IIS metabase to 40 (the maximum allowed). The third command (iisreset) shuts down and then restarts IIS.


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by big greg
last modified: 2005-06-09 09:24:20

The feature of Apache lets your web site take a URL and rewrite it for passing to your server side scripts.

ISAPI_Rewrite is a powerful URL manipulation engine based on regular expressions. It takes the same regular expressions and options as Apache's mod_rewrite.

It comes in two versions: ISAPI_Rewrite Lite is free. It doesn't support per-virtual-site configurations, proxy, and few other options. ISAPI_Rewrite Full is the full product, available on a try-before-you-buy basis.

More information and downloads are available by going to »www.isapirewrite.com/

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by big greg

Perl is a cross-platform scripting language. Several free packages for web sites are written in Perl. The Perl interpreter is mature and easy to install. Once you install Perl, you can use it to run Perl scripts from the command line or for web pages under IIS for Windows 2000 and later (IIS 5, 5.1, and 6).

Many web tools are written in Perl, including MRTG and AWStats.

For a free Perl installation, go to the ActiveState site and follow the links to download and install Perl. The installer does a good job at setting up your IIS system to run Perl scripts for web pages.

Download ActiveState Perl from »www.activestate.com/

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by big greg
last modified: 2005-06-09 09:22:28

Yes.

If you are running Windows XP you can run the IIS 6.0 plugins on your computer. Just download the Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack from Microsoft.
»www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta···ylang=en

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by big greg