"HTTP Error 500-13 - Server too busy" error message when you connect to a computer that is running IIS 4.0 or IIS 5.0 (248037)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0
  • Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0

This article was previously published under Q248037
We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6.0 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003. IIS 6.0 significantly increases Web infrastructure security. For more information about IIS security-related topics, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

SYMPTOMS

When you connect to a computer running Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0 or Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0, you may receive the following error message:
HTTP Error 500-13 - Server too busy

The request cannot be processed at this time. The amount of traffic exceeds the Web site's configured capacity.

CAUSE

The server cannot satisfy the request due to the internet traffic or processor utilization that the server is experiencing.

WORKAROUND

Several steps can be taken to optimize server performance. Please see the list of references in the "More Information" section for additional information.

You may want to consider multiple servers to service the volume of traffic and use Windows Load Balancing to distribute the load.

MORE INFORMATION

More information about Windows Load Balancing, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For additional information about performance tuning, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

235461 Enhancing performance in Internet Information Server 4.0

Tuning Internet Information Server Performance

For tuning tips on IIS 4.0 (many of which are still valid), download the self-extracting document "Tuning Parameters for High-Volume Sites" from the following Microsoft Web site: For ASP tips and tricks for high-volume servers, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web sites::

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/18/2006
Keywords:kbprb kbProd2Web KB248037 kbAudDeveloper