Master Windows Server administration and IIS from fundamentals to production-grade hosting: OS architecture, services, networking, IIS request flow, SSL, authentication, logging, troubleshooting, and real-world deployment patterns used by support and infrastructure teams.
Start Learning →This course is built for L1/L2/L3 support engineers, IIS administrators, .NET infrastructure teams, and anyone preparing for technical interviews covering Windows Server and web hosting operations. Every lesson connects Windows fundamentals to real IIS production scenarios.
By the end of this course you can set up and manage IIS sites from scratch, configure SSL certificates, diagnose 500 errors and app pool crashes, read IIS and HTTPERR logs to trace failures, harden Windows Server hosts, and answer every common Windows+IIS interview question from beginner to scenario-based.
This track explicitly covers all requested syllabus areas: Windows fundamentals, Windows Server roles/features and Hyper-V basics, Windows networking commands and protocol basics, remote access and server management, storage and NTFS, Active Directory fundamentals (Domain Controller, users/groups, GPO, RBAC concepts), services/process management, monitoring/logging, troubleshooting, IIS integration, PowerShell automation, and real production administration scenarios.
Build a strong Windows foundation: OS architecture, NTFS filesystem, services, processes, memory, and the administration tools every engineer must know before touching IIS.
Kernel mode, user mode, HAL, Windows architecture layers, and how Windows Server differs from desktop editions.
NTFS permissions, process lifecycle, Windows Services, service accounts, dependencies, and startup types.
Task Manager, Event Viewer, Disk Management, Resource Monitor, MMC snap-ins, and memory vs virtual memory.
IPv4, DNS record basics (A/CNAME/MX), HTTP/HTTPS/FTP/SSH ports and protocols, ping, ipconfig, tracert, netstat, nslookup, telnet, and RDP/MSTSC.
Understand IIS from the ground up: what it is, how HTTP.sys and w3wp.exe collaborate, site and application pool management, and configuration file hierarchy.
IIS history, versions, installation on Windows Server and Home, IIS Manager, modules, and service dependencies (W3SVC, WAS).
Kernel-mode HTTP.sys, WAS, W3SVC, w3wp.exe, application pools, web gardens, and the complete request lifecycle.
Create and configure sites, application pools identity/isolation/recycling, virtual directories, MIME types, and port bindings.
ApplicationHost.config, Web.config, Machine.config, aspnet_regiis.exe, configuration hierarchy, backup, and restore.
Operate IIS at production scale: certificates, authentication methods, AD-integrated access control concepts, deep log analysis, and structured troubleshooting for the hardest failure types.
SSL basics, standard vs wildcard vs mutual TLS, CSR generation, certificate import, HTTPS binding, SNI, and renewal.
Anonymous, Basic, Digest, Windows, Forms, SSO, plus AD basics (Domain Controller, users/groups, GPO, RBAC concepts), request filtering, and hardening checklist.
IIS log format, HTTPERR log, Event Viewer, Performance Monitor counters, 400/401/403/404/500 series analysis.
Step-by-step L1/L2/L3 flows for 500 errors, app pool crashes, w3wp.exe high CPU, SSL failures, and disk pressure.
Apply everything end-to-end: deploy a real .NET app, configure HTTPS, run structured incident response, and prime your interview answers.
Full deployment walkthrough with PowerShell: IIS role, app pool, site creation, .NET registration, deployment, service automation, and smoke test.
Generate a CSR, install a self-signed cert, bind HTTPS, enforce HTTPS redirect, and validate the certificate chain.
Structured triage for real outage patterns: site down, app pool recycling, SSL handshake failures, deployment errors.
Curated beginner, intermediate, and scenario-based Q&A covering every major Windows + IIS topic in this course.