Overlooking the world of SBS2003 and Office Systems 2003

So, You want to Add a Web Site/Server?  Just grab up your IIS Console, connect to the server, and blast a web site into existence!  Faster than a speeding bullet, larger than a breadbox, and twice as Natural! 

 Stop Right There!  Put down that MMC.  Pull up a chair, grab paper and pencil, dig out your IP book, because you have to review/learn a few things.

From the IISHELP files on the SBS Server:

Assigning Host Header Names, Addresses, and Ports to Web Sites

The material for this section is contained at the following place in your IISHELP documentation.  The following is not a real URL, but one to the document on my server--but it does indicate where you have to go on yours.  It is a subsection of the article by the name: About Name Resolution.  Search for that when you get into the NT4 Option Pack Documentation.  The URI is:

    _ttp://outlookconsul01/iishelp/iis/htm/core/inmres.htm

Now, in an SBS system, you don't really have enough computers to warrant DHCP or other DNS name provider.  Hence, the interesting strategy of using host header names is not really practical.  Its out!  If you try to use different ports, you have to switch your browser each time you change intranets.  That's out!  Leaves just different IP addresses to use to distinguish your web servers/sites.

How to create and run two web servers on the SBS server

There is a problem with trying to create a second web server to run on the SBS server.  When you do that, using the procedure that you used to create the first one, the new web server is given the same default IPAddress, port, and Header Name.  This then causes the new web server to be marked (Stopped) in the OSEAdministrator/IIS console.  Any attempt to start it will produce an error message in the wcerr.txt file to the effect that there is a conflict in the web server address triple and you need to reconfigure the server before it can be started.

Solution:  Before you attempt to create the second web server, from the SBS server's terminal, open the Network Applet in the Settings panel, click on Protocol|Properties to bring up the TCP/IP properties panel.  On the IP Address tab, click Advanced, and then, under the IP Addresses listbox that displays the default IP Address of 10.0.0.2, click Add and input the IP Addresses you want to use.  Be sure they do not conflict with any you have already assigned.  Then OK all the panels out to the Desktop.  It may not be necessary to reboot, at this point, but it is probably a good point.

 Now, back in the IIS console, select your computer, and the click Actions|New|Web Site to bring up the New Web Site Wizard.  Provide the description, click Next, and in the next panel--where you select the IP Address and the default "[All Unassigned]" is showing--click the listbox dropdown and select the IP Address you choose back in the TCP/IP properties panel.  Then proceed as with a new Web server.  This will produce a web server which can be configured by the OSEConfiguration Wizard and will be shown as running at the same time as your first web server.

 You publish to this second web server by using the IP Address, rather than the name-- http://10.0.0.40, for example.

Send mail to Hollis@outlookbythesound.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: October 31, 2003