- Resolving IIS WMSVC Underlying Connection Was Closed
IIS Manager Remote Administration is a handy tool for for a web server administrator when you have multiple servers to manage. This feature will save you the trouble of having to Remote Desktop into each server every time you need to touch IIS. With IIS Manager Remote Administration you can ... read more - Using aspnet_regiis.exe to Encrypt Connection Strings
When it comes to securing IIS web applications on Windows Server 20008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 R2 one typically thinks of firewalls, access control lists (ACL), and using an application pool identity. These security measures will protect a site from external threats . However, .Net configuration files which typically ... read more - Blocking SQL Injection with IIS Request Filtering
SQL Injection became a favorite hacking technique in 2007. Despite being widely documented for so many years it continues to evolve and be utilized. Because SQL Injection is such a well known attack vector, I am always surprised when as sysadmin I come across someone’s site that has been compromised ... read more - Managing IIS Logs with GZipStream
Depending on how many sites your Windows web server is hosting maintaining IIS logs can be a challenge. IIS logs provide valuable insight into the traffic your sites are experiencing as well as detailed SEO metrics and performance data. A typical web server will have just enough free disk space ... read more - 3 Steps to Securing FTP on IIS 8
- Preventing Automated Attacks with IIS Dynamic IP Restrictions
Another one of the great built-in features of IIS 8 is Dynamic IP Restrictions (DIPR). With a few simple configuration steps you can quickly set limits for blocking IP addresses based on the number of concurrent requests or frequency of requests over a period time. With these parameters in place ... read more - Solving SQL Server High CPU with IIS Request Filtering
The other day I was troubleshooting 100% CPU utilization on a SQL Server 2008 database server. The server had 100 or so databases of varying sizes however none were larger than a few hundred MB and each database had a corresponding web site on a separate web server. Since the ... read more - Scaling SSL With IIS 8 Server Name Indication (SNI)
One of the many great new features with IIS 8 on Windows Server 2012 is Server Name Indication (SNI). SNI is a TLS extension that includes the hostname or virtual domain name during SSL negotiation. The reasoning behind this was to improve SSL scalability and minimize the need for dedicated ... read more - Installing WordPress, PHP, and MySQL on Windows Server 2012 R2
Microsoft’s Web Platform Installer (Web PI) makes installing applications a breeze. In a recent blog post I covered just how easy installing IIS has become using Web PI. In this walkthrough I’m going to cover installing WordPress, PHP, and MySQL using Web PI. I remember the days when installing these ... read more - Installing IIS on Windows Server 2012 with Web PI
Thanks to Microsoft’s Web Platform Installer (Web PI) installing IIS has never been so easy. Before using Web PI to install IIS became available, you had to use the Server Manager to install the Web Server (IIS) role and then select various Role Services that you need to be enabled. ... read more
- Resolving IIS WMSVC Underlying Connection Was ClosedIIS Manager Remote Administration is a handy tool for for a web server administrator when you have multiple servers to manage. This feature will save you the trouble of having to Remote Desktop into each server every time you need to touch IIS. With IIS Manager Remote Administration you can ... read more
- Securing SmarterMail in 10 Steps
You may not be familiar with SmarterMail from Smatertools.com but it is an enterprise class Windows based mail server. It has a powerful web based management GUI and the company regularly releases version updates containing bug fixes and new features. However, in my opinion one of the most compelling reasons ... read more - MX Guarddog – Unparalleled Free Spam Filtering
According to the IBM Threat Intelligence Index Spam email volume continues to rise every year as does the threat from sophisticated phishing emails or seemingly innocuous messages with malicious attachments. You may never have heard of MX Guarddog but they have been providing “best in class” email security solutions since ... read more - Using Asp.Net to Process NDR Emails
If you’ve ever managed a mailing list or sent out an announcement to a distribution group then you have inevitably experienced non-delivery report (NDR) floods. These messages indicate delivery problems for your some of your recipients. In most cases the delivery issues are straight forward such as the mailbox no ... read more - Using Asp.net to Remove Spam And Keep Good Mail
Recently I was cleaning up a personal mailbox I’ve kept over the years for use when a 3rd party asks for an email address and I don’t want to provide my primary one. In these situations I prefer to give an address that I don’t frequently use because I know ... read more - Securing SmarterMail with SSL / TLS
SmarterMail from Smatertools.com is a fantastic enterprise class Windows based mail server. One of the most compelling reasons to try Smatermail is that they offer a full featured version free for one domain. Leveraging SSL/TLS protocols with SmarterMail allows mail communication to be encrypted increasing privacy and security. Export SSL ... read more - Filtering IP Ranges From SmarterStats Reports
Recently while looking through my site’s traffic report from the past few months I noticed an unusual spike. I use SmarterStats by SmarterTools which is a web based enterprise analytics tool and is free for one domain. After looking through a few other reports I came to realize that the ... read more - Using aspnet_regiis.exe to Encrypt Connection StringsWhen it comes to securing IIS web applications on Windows Server 20008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 R2 one typically thinks of firewalls, access control lists (ACL), and using an application pool identity. These security measures will protect a site from external threats . However, .Net configuration files which typically ... read more
- PhpMyAdmin makes MySQL Backups and Restores Easy
The Microsoft Web Platform Installer (WPI) has made installing WordPress and MySQL on your Windows servers incredibly easy. With just a few clicks one can deploy a new WordPress site in minutes. When it comes to managing a MySQL database you may first think of MySQL Workbench which is a ... read more - Automate MySQL Backups on Windows Server 2012
Hosting MySQL and WordPress on your Windows Server 20008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 R2 has never been easier thanks to Microsoft Web Platform Installer (WPI). However, backing up the MySQL databases is another story. Running mysqldump is certainly easy enough but manually taking a backup once in a while ... read more