Is IIS a web server or an application server?

Question

Is IIS a web server or an application server?

Or is it both?

What is the difference between (or similarity between) Web and Application servers in .Net?

Thanks!

Update: On further investigation, concluded the following: It all depends on the protocol used for 'serving'

Web server: Only HTTP, and App server: any, including HTTP.

Not sure if IIS has other protocols that deviate much from HTTP, (and if it doesnt,) maybe in a stricter sense, is only a Web Server! (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc268242.aspx)

Application servers, by definition, should be able to serve (any) 'application'; not just browsers. (web services being a problematic area in this context)

Correct the above if wrong... thanks again.

Answer 1

IIS 6.0 is basically a web server, with an extension, aspnet_isapi.dll, which handles the ASP.NET functionality. in IIS 7.0 and above, the .NET handling has been integrated into the webserver itself, and IIS might be considered an application server, hosting .NET applications (ASP.NET).

If you are looking for something similar to a Java Bean container in .NET, there is really no such concept. You can use Windows Services, or you can use Windows Azure worker roles, they resemble "app servers" as JBoss, etc.

Are there any more specific questions? It's really difficult to elaborate more without going too far off your original question.