IIS Express vs Default IIS that comes with Windows 7

IisIis Express

Iis Problem Overview


I am new to the world of IIS and I wanted to know the following...

I have heard about IIS Express. I run Windows 7 Ultimate and have installed the IIS that comes packaged with Windows 7.

As a developer, is there any major benefit for me if I install IIS Express over the default IIS that comes with Windows 7 for .Net Web projects?

Iis Solutions


Solution 1 - Iis

Here are the differences from http://www.mywindowsclub.com/resources/3302-Key-differences-between-IIS-IIS-Developer.aspx.

If you already have IIS installed - its a better product. IIS express would only be used by people who don't have access to IIS or want something that is lighter than IIS but more like IIS than Cassini.

  • Integrated with OS
    • IIS 7 ships with the operating system and is tightly integrated to Windows.
    • IIS developer express is a separate downloadable tool
  • Targetted users
    • IIS 7 is for both developers as well as for production purposes.
    • IIS developer express can be used only for development purposes and not for production.
  • Supported Windows editions
    • IIS 7 will work only on Windows Vista and newer editions of Windows. In case of server OS, IIS 7 will work only on Windows 2008.
    • IIS developer edition will work even on older version - starting from Windows XP and newer.
  • Process model and activation
    • In IIS 7, the worker thread is automatically launched and managed by Windows Process Activation Service.
    • In case of IIS Express, user has to handle this.
  • FTP support
    • IIS developer express does not support FTP while IIS 7 supports it.
  • WCF support
    • IIS Developer express supports only WCF over HTTP.
    • IIS 7 supports WCF including over TCP, Named Pipes, and MSMQ.
  • Multi developer support
    • IIS 7 is a single user application.
    • IIS Developer express supports multi developer environment. Configuration files, settings, and Web content are maintained on a per-user basis.
  • Visual Studio integration
    • All editions and versions of Visual Studio have built-in support for IIS 7.
    • Only VS 2010 and future versions will have built-in support for IIS developer express.
  • Runtime extensions
    • IIS developer has support for URL Rewrite and FastCGI.
    • Webmatrix offers support for SEO, database management and Web Deployment. Other extensions that are offered with IIS are not yet tested with IIS Developer express.
  • Management Tools
    • IIS 7 is managed using the IIS Manager.
    • IIS Developer express can be managed using Webmatrix. Also, the express edition has support through system tray.
  • Port used by IIS
    • The default website comes with IIS 7 listens to port 80.
    • The default website part of IIS developer express listens to port 8080 to avoid conflicts with IIS 7 when they are running side by side.

Solution 2 - Iis

From Scott Gu's post on IIS Express:

Why Not IIS > The downside with using the IIS option today, though, is that some > companies don’t allow full web-servers to be installed on developer > machines. IIS also requires administrator account access to setup and > debug projects. Different versions of Windows also support different > versions of IIS. For example, if you are running on Windows XP you > have to use the IIS 5.1 web-server that comes with it – which doesn’t > support all the new features of IIS 7.x. Configuring a web project > within VS to use IIS also requires some extra installation and > configuration steps.

Why IIS Express > It’s lightweight and easy to install (less than 10Mb download and a > super quick install) It does not require an administrator account to > run/debug applications from Visual Studio It enables a full web-server > feature set – including SSL, URL Rewrite, Media Support, and all other > IIS 7.x modules It supports and enables the same extensibility model > and web.config file settings that IIS 7.x support It can be installed > side-by-side with the full IIS web server as well as the ASP.NET > Development Server (they do not conflict at all) It works on Windows > XP and higher operating systems – giving you a full IIS 7.x developer > feature-set on all OS platforms IIS Express (like the ASP.NET > Development Server) can be quickly launched to run a site from a > directory on disk. It does not require any registration/configuration > steps. This makes it really easy to launch and run for development > scenarios.

Solution 3 - Iis

After a couple of hours i found one significant reason to use Express over Local IIS : "Edit and Continue" does not work on local IIS.

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Content TypeOriginal AuthorOriginal Content on Stackoverflow
QuestionMark PearlView Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - IisPeter MunningsView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - IisKen BurkhardtView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - IisDblView Answer on Stackoverflow