ASP.NET - Basic checklist for putting a site into production

Question

I'm building a static ASP.NET site (using Masterpages and a few forms) and I'm about to release it onto my production server.

I know about changing <compilation debug="true"> to false, but I'm wondering what other things I can do to obtain the highest speed possible. There is no data access in the site, it's all static content.

Does anyone have a checklist they run through or know of a good resource for setting up sites in a production environment, with a focus on performance?

Checklist so far (Feel free to edit this yourself with any worth additions)

1. Make sure <compilation debug="false" /> is actually set to false in Web.Config
2. Make sure <trace enabled="false" /> is actually set to false in Web.Config
3. Set necessary read/write/modify folder permissions for site
4. Enable GZIP in IIS (reduces size of pages/css/javascript dramatically)
5. Have you considered OutputCaching for any pages / controls?
6. Consider setting up Web Tests (Eg WatiN for .NET) to make sure functionality on your site is still working ok
7. Make sure it isn't Friday afternoon!

Answer 1

If you're writing any log or output files, make sure the proper folder permissions are setup in the production environment. Typically debug/test environments are much more lax on file read/write permissions than production.

Answer 2

Don't deploy on Friday afternoons! This is guaranteed to mess up your head for the weekend.

Answer 3

Also, don't forget to check the gzip settings in IIS. Compressing output will make things travel across the wire much faster.

Answer 4

There is actually a very good checklist on how to perform a security deployment review provided on MSDN.