Internet Information Services (IIS) is a core Microsoft Windows component and by design is installed on the system drive. Because IIS is an operating system component, there is no option to install IIS 7.0 or 7.5 on a non-system drive.
Starting in IIS 7.0 there were a number of architecture changes that resulted in some of the data directories that are used by IIS being relocated to the %systemdrive%\Inetpub directory, as opposed to being located in %windir%, %windir%\system32\LogFiles or %windir%\system32\inetsrv\ as in previous versions of IIS. Listed below are the important directory locations for IIS 7.0 & IIS 7.5.
During installation, most of the core IIS components and configuration files are placed inside the %windir%\system32\inetsrv folder. The Inetsrv directory is considered the main installation directory for IIS. It has been reported that some non-Microsoft security scanning tools suggest that IIS should be installed on a non-system drive for security purposes. This is not a correct assessment. IIS is a core Windows component and cannot be installed on a non-system drive.
There have also been reports of suggestions to move the Inetpub directory to a non-system drive for security purposes. The Inetpub directory is the default web content directory and also acts as a placeholder for logs and temporary files. Most of the Inetpub subfolder locations can be reconfigured based on your needs and business requirements, however the initial Inetpub folder and subfolders should never be renamed nor deleted. This is because Windows Servicing may at some point need to update one or more of the core IIS files that are stored in %systemdrive%\inetpub\. Moving the Inetpub folder structure completely off of the system drive is not supported. Further, there are no real security benefits from moving the entire Inetpub directory structure to a non-system drive.
NOTE: IN THE EVENT OF WINDOWS SERVICING, ONLY THE ORIGINAL DIRECTORIES AND THEIR CONTENTS WILL BE UPDATED. MICROSOFT DOES NOT RECOMMEND ANY MANIPULATION TO THE IIS DIRECTORY STRUCTURE. DOING SO WILL RENDER IIS IN AN UNSUPPORTED STATE.
Storing your web site content on a non-system drive (instead of the default %systemdrive%\inetpub folder) is fully supported and is a valid option to consider. However, hosting the website content on a non-system drive is just one possible option out of many for increasing the security levels of your web server. For more information on IIS security, please see:
Configuring Web Server Security
Starting in IIS 7.0 there were a number of architecture changes that resulted in some of the data directories that are used by IIS being relocated to the %systemdrive%\Inetpub directory, as opposed to being located in %windir%, %windir%\system32\LogFiles or %windir%\system32\inetsrv\ as in previous versions of IIS. Listed below are the important directory locations for IIS 7.0 & IIS 7.5.
Contents of INETSRV Directory | |
Installation Files | %windir%\system32\inetsrv |
IIS Configuration & Schema | %windir%\system32\inetsrv\config |
History (IIS 6 config Files) | %windir%\system32\inetsrv\History |
Contents of INETPUB Directory | |
History (IIS 7 config Files) | %systemdrive%\inetpub\history |
IIS Error Pages | %systemdrive%\inetpub\custerr |
IIS Logs (W3SVC, FTP & FREB Logs) | %systemdrive%\inetpub\logs · %systemdrive%\inetpub\logs\Logfiles · %systemdrive%\inetpub\logs\FailedReqLogfiles |
ASP Compiled Templates | %systemdrive%\inetpub\temp\ASP Compiled Templates |
Temporary IIS & Application Pool Configuration | %systemdrive%\inetpub\temp\appPools |
Default FTP Site | %systemdrive%\inetpub\ftproot |
Default Website | %systemdrive%\inetpub\wwwroot |
Scripts | %systemdrive%\inetpub\AdminScripts\0409 |
Temporary IIS Compressed Files | %SystemDrive%\inetpub\temp\IIS Temporary Compressed Files |
During installation, most of the core IIS components and configuration files are placed inside the %windir%\system32\inetsrv folder. The Inetsrv directory is considered the main installation directory for IIS. It has been reported that some non-Microsoft security scanning tools suggest that IIS should be installed on a non-system drive for security purposes. This is not a correct assessment. IIS is a core Windows component and cannot be installed on a non-system drive.
There have also been reports of suggestions to move the Inetpub directory to a non-system drive for security purposes. The Inetpub directory is the default web content directory and also acts as a placeholder for logs and temporary files. Most of the Inetpub subfolder locations can be reconfigured based on your needs and business requirements, however the initial Inetpub folder and subfolders should never be renamed nor deleted. This is because Windows Servicing may at some point need to update one or more of the core IIS files that are stored in %systemdrive%\inetpub\. Moving the Inetpub folder structure completely off of the system drive is not supported. Further, there are no real security benefits from moving the entire Inetpub directory structure to a non-system drive.
NOTE: IN THE EVENT OF WINDOWS SERVICING, ONLY THE ORIGINAL DIRECTORIES AND THEIR CONTENTS WILL BE UPDATED. MICROSOFT DOES NOT RECOMMEND ANY MANIPULATION TO THE IIS DIRECTORY STRUCTURE. DOING SO WILL RENDER IIS IN AN UNSUPPORTED STATE.
Storing your web site content on a non-system drive (instead of the default %systemdrive%\inetpub folder) is fully supported and is a valid option to consider. However, hosting the website content on a non-system drive is just one possible option out of many for increasing the security levels of your web server. For more information on IIS security, please see:
Configuring Web Server Security