ASP.NET Web Applications under IIS 6.0

**Tanmaya** · 09-25-2008, 11:05 AM

Brief explanation about how ASP net application works under IIS 6.0?

An ASP.NET application must be located in in an IIS virtual directory, identified as the application root. ASP.NET applications can have compiled assemblies (usually DLL files that contain business logic); a well-known directory, always named \Bin, where precompiled code is stored; configuration settings stored in a text-based Web.config file; pages; server controls; and XML Web services.

Any precompiled code that is not common with other applications on the server must be stored in the application's \Bin directory. This is the local assembly cache for the application.

If you plan to use the identical assembly in multiple applications on your Web server, you should set up that assembly to the global assembly cache.

Web.config files store application-wide configuration settings in an XML-based text file. This means that you can use any normal text editor or XML parser to create them, and that they are clear. If you do not comprise a Web.config file in the application root, configuration settings are determined by those set in the Machine.config file, the configuration file for the entire server. A version of the Machine.config file is installed when you install the .NET Framework.

The following diagram shows a sample file system outline for an ASP.NET application.

The application in this diagram includes two DLL files in the \Bin directory, a Default.aspx page, a user control named Menu.ascx, an XML Web service named MyWebService.asmx, and a Global.asax file. In addition, the application is configured using three configuration files:

a) machine-level Machine.config file in the system root directory,
b) site-level Web.config file in the C:\Inetpub\Wwwroot\... directory,
c) application-level Web.config file in the application root directory.

Configuration settings stored in the application root override the settings in the site's Web.config file and the Machine.config file, while the site's Web.config file overrides settings in the Machine.config file.

ASP.NET applications are composed of virtual directory structures, not physical directory structures. Configuration settings are applied to virtual paths.