Microsoft Application Request Routing (ARR) 1.0 for IIS 7.0 has been released to web, with the software giant adding yet another item to its line-up of IIS extensions. ARR version 1.0 is designed to lend a helping hand to administrators when it comes down to managing distributed Web server farms. The extension was launched in correlation with another tool set up to deliver an extra tier of protection to Internet Information Services 7.0 from unauthorized access as well as from malicious requests, namely Dynamic IP Restrictions Beta for IIS 7.0, which, unlike ARR, is just in Beta. The Microsoft Application Request Routing 1.0 for IIS7.0 is available for download at no charge from Microsoft.

“ARR Version 1 for IIS7.0 is a proxy based routing module that forwards HTTP requests to content servers based on HTTP headers and server variables, and load balance algorithms. It is designed for web server administrators and hosting providers and to increase Web application reliability and scalability. ARR also enables shared hosters to maximize resource utilization on application servers and reduce management costs for server farms,” Microsoft's Won Yoo revealed.

With the integration of ARR 1.0 in IIS 7.0, administrators will be able to spread web requests across the server infrastructure available with increased efficiency. Microsoft is promising that this option will inherently lead to the maximization of utilization. At the same time, the extension boosts security and scalability of application servers, and ensures that it kicks server capacity up a notch via client and host name affinity.

“The RTW version of ARR is fully supported and production ready, and adds new functionality since the Release Candidate, including: an improved way to allocate and identify servers for host name affinity by including 2 providers: one based on round robin and the other based on memory consumption, to more evenly distribute the 'load' across shared servers; greater integration with IIS Manager, including the ability to manually override health statuses and configure HTTP and HTTPS ports for the application servers; and Performance improvements in least response time load balancing algorithm,” David Lowe, senior product manager, Microsoft Windows Server Division, added.

The Microsoft Application Request Routing (ARR) Version 1 for IIS 7.0 is available for download here.