[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change]

# Scaling Down

Scaling down is a money-saving solution for reclaiming valuable resources and improving scalability. Scaling down is best suited for sites with large amounts of static content and may not be a good option if your site utilizes line-of-business or distributed applications. Scaling down in a Web server environment means:

- Replacing real sites with virtual sites
- Assessing idle capacity to make better use of resources

Replacing real sites with virtual sites requires a Web application or an ISAPI filter like the Scalable Hosting Solution. The application or filter allows Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to give their customers what appears to be a unique domain name, while conserving the number of truly unique domain names stored on their IIS servers. Replacing real sites with virtual sites allows administrators to house thousands more sites on an IIS server.

Scaling down also addresses inefficient hosting or publishing practices. Internet Service Providers, especially those offering free hosting, can gain and lose hundreds of customers daily. If administrators Scaling Out to keep up with the demand and do not stop periodically to assess idle capacity, system hardware acquisition will continue to be a problem and an unnecessary expense. To assess idle capacity see Tools Used to Monitor Performance. Determine whether or not sites stored on one server can simply be moved to a different server to make more room for new sites and to more effectively utilize memory.

© 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.