Microsoft IIS and Apache as the Main Competitors - Research Paper Example

As a result, over two-third of all the web sites are now hosted with Apache web server, according to monthly Netcraft surveys. However, alternate surveys have shown that Fortune 1000 companies continue to use IIS. A large number of web sites hosted by Apache are in reality static sites, mostly advertisement and public interest sites. The major e-commerce sites like Dell, eBay, etc. all use IIS.

Various studies have shown that Apache has advantages over IIS in terms of security and support. IIS have been subjected to worms like Code Red and Nimda to which Apache have been immune. IIS has also been detected with more security vulnerabilities than Apache. IIS takes longer to send out advisories or fix bugs. The main advantage of Apache, of course, is in terms of costs. However, it has been seen that although the Apache’s operating system, Linux, has lower acquisition costs, its Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is not necessarily lower. In particular, it is more than IIS for larger enterprises.

            Of late, Microsoft has woken up to the threat from Open Source Web Servers although in the initial years, it did not concentrate so much on internet software as it did with intranet software on Windows NT. Microsoft has revised its licensing policies and has made 5-year TCO of Windows OS nearly at par with Linux. Besides, IIS is provided with Windows 2003 and Windows XP Professional, which have a host of additional applications, for no extra cost. Most companies that are already familiar with Microsoft application do not want to migrate to a new system purely because of compatibility issues.