Just a note to let you know we will be upgrading our servers to the latest 64 bit technology in anticipation of the coming upgrade to Windows 2008 Server (Longhorn) which is scheduled for release in February 2008.
 
We are currently testing the pre-release version and will be migrating client web sites to the new servers as soon as testing is completed.
 
The benefits of upgrading are improved security, better performance and faster loading of web pages and easier trouble shooting; but for those more technicly inclined, here are a list of some of the new web server improvements in IIS 7.0
 
IIS7 Features

IIS7 in Windows Server 2008 offers functionality that enables Web administrators to reliably manage Web infrastructures more effectively and enables Web developers to rapidly build more compelling Web solutions.

The IIS7 release delivers five key enhancements:

1. Modular architecture: IIS7 is designed to enable the IT professional to customize exactly which features are installed and running on the Web server. IIS is now factored into more than 40 feature modules that can be independently installed on the box, dramatically reducing the potential attack surface and lowering the footprint requirements of the server.
   
   
2. Comprehensive extensibility APIs: IIS7 enables developers to extend the Web server in a smoother way. The core Web server features of IIS7 have been built using a new set of public Web server APIs that all developers can use to extend, replace, or add functionality to the Web server. These APIs are available as native Win32 APIs as well as managed .NET Framework APIs. Developers can also take advantage of IIS7's extensibility of event logging, configuration, and administration tool feature-sets, providing a smooth experience for customers using third-party extensions.
   
   
3. Unified, distributable configuration model: IIS7 provides developers and administrators with a unified configuration system for storing all IIS and ASP.NET settings in a single XML format, and includes a set of managed code and scripting APIs for accessing configuration information for the entire Web platform. This new configuration system supports distributed configuration files, which can be stored along with Web site or application content.
   
   These improvements have radical implications for how applications are configured and deployed. Now that Web site and application settings are no longer explicitly tied to a centralized configuration store on the local machine, configuration can simply be copied from the developer's workstation, to a test server, and then to the production Web server. Once a Web site is in production, administrators can share configuration information across multiple front-end Web servers, avoiding costly and error-prone replication and manual synchronization issues.
   
   
4. Efficient administration tools: IIS7 offers a broad set of administration features that simplify the day-to-day tasks of managing Web sites and applications. IIS7 includes a new graphical user interface (GUI) administration tool, a new command-line utility, a new managed API, and a new WMI provider for automating administration tasks. All of these new administration features provide unified support for managing IIS and ASP.NET settings together.
   
   The new GUI administration tool in IIS7 offers a new, more efficient tool for managing the Web server. It provides support for both IIS and ASP.NET configuration settings, membership users, and role data, as well as runtime diagnostic information. The new UI also enables those who host or administer Web sites to delegate administrative control to developers or content owners, thus reducing cost of ownership and the administrative burden for the IT professional. It supports connecting to remote servers over HTTP (through firewalls) and works in both dedicated and shared hosting environments.
   
   
5. Powerful diagnostic capabilities: IIS7 enables developers and IT professionals to more easily troubleshoot errant Web sites and applications. IIS7 exposes runtime diagnostic information to administrators (for example, what requests are currently executing, how long they have been running, which URLs they are invoking, what client called them, and what their status is). IIS7 can also be configured to automatically log detailed trace events for requests when failures are detected. These diagnostic capabilities in IIS7 are extensible as well, so new diagnostic events can be inserted into custom modules.