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IIS pros and cons

Vendor: Microsoft
4.1 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

IIS is lightweight and easy to configure for simple webpages.
The integration with Microsoft products and tools makes deployment straightforward.
The setup is quick as IIS comes pre-configured, saving installation time.
Users appreciate the stability and security features offered by IIS.
Technical support from Microsoft is praised for being satisfactory.

CONS

Finding different settings in IIS can be difficult without proper guidance, leading to configuration challenges.
Scalability issues are noted, particularly when IIS is used on a single server without proper clustering or load balancing setup, affecting its capability.
The documentation for IIS is not comprehensive, with users finding it difficult to locate information, indicating an area needing improvement.
Support from Microsoft related to IIS needs to improve in response time and quality, as users encounter challenges with issue resolution.
The pricing of IIS is considered high, and there are calls for better cost-effectiveness regarding its licensing and purchasing.
 

IIS Pros review quotes

it_user2589 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Administrator at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Oct 25, 2012
It is a Microsoft product that is easy to use and to host local and public websites.
it_user4386 - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Feb 20, 2013
IIS is a reliable and secure product, works very well along side other components such as SQL and dotnet.
it_user183474 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Engineer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jan 26, 2015
Authentication for network appliances, load balancing products and wireless devices became easy to do.
Learn what your peers think about IIS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user266553 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jul 5, 2015
It was crucial and it definitely paid off.
BG
Systems Analyst/DBA at Vecima Networks
Dec 18, 2017
It is a lightweight web host that is easy to configure for simple webpages.
AR
DevOps at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Sep 5, 2019
The solution is the easiest way to publish applications which have been designed by older development tools.
it_user1153596 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Administrator at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Sep 29, 2019
This is definitely a stable solution.
DK
Head of Department of Infrastructure Development at SDA
Oct 24, 2019
The solution is easy to use, easy to maintain and isn't too technical.
BS
Geospatial Services Systems Administrator at EDIC Bayanat
Oct 29, 2019
The graphical user interface makes it easy for users to configure the sites.
MT
ICT Manager at Africa International University
Dec 9, 2019
The solution integrates well with most Microsoft products.
 

IIS Cons review quotes

it_user2589 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Administrator at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Oct 25, 2012
It is not compatible with other platforms due to limitations.
it_user4386 - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Feb 20, 2013
Can be difficult to set up for new users and complex to troubleshoot.
it_user183474 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Engineer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jan 26, 2015
Scalability issues: No issues encountered but always go for two machines as one isn't enough and isn't fault redundant.
Learn what your peers think about IIS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user266553 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jul 5, 2015
Products based on Microsoft .NET do not give companies lot of options; either with Server Operating System shipped IIS, or the developer version called IIS Express.
BG
Systems Analyst/DBA at Vecima Networks
Dec 18, 2017
Finding different settings can be difficult if you don't know where to look.
AR
DevOps at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Sep 5, 2019
The scalability depends on how you have set it up. If you're running IIS on a single server, it might not be as capable as if you are on many in a cluster or with load balancing and so on.
it_user1153596 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Administrator at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Sep 29, 2019
The areas of this solution that need improvement are monitoring, debugging, and troubleshooting.
DK
Head of Department of Infrastructure Development at SDA
Oct 24, 2019
The solution should improve the cluster environment and load balancing.
BS
Geospatial Services Systems Administrator at EDIC Bayanat
Oct 29, 2019
This solution needs to be easier for cases where you want to have an IIS cluster.
MT
ICT Manager at Africa International University
Dec 9, 2019
If Microsoft IIS could work well with AppOptics or things like PHP, Python, and other custom languages that run on the webserver, it would be ideal. I think there are cases where people need to use Apache instead of IIS when IIS doesn't work well with other web languages.