To process dynamic web pages, you need an application server. An application server is software that helps a web server process web pages containing server-side scripts or tags. When such a page is requested by a browser, the web server hands the page off to the application server for processing before sending the page to the browser. For more information, see Understanding Web Applications.
In ASP.NET, the application server is called the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1. To develop ASP.NET web applications, you also need to install the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Software Development Kit (SDK). Make sure both the Framework and the SDK is installed and running on a Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional system running IIS 5 or higher.
If Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 is listed, the Framework is already installed and you do not need to install it again. Skip to step 3.
You install the Framework as a Windows update.
After installing the Framework and SDK, create a root folder for your web application. (See Creating a root folder.)