Question

What would be the best (easiest and fastest) way to provide an access between 64-bit application (ASP.NET) and 32-bit assembly (.NET 32-bit database driver).

1) I’ve got complete control over this two pieces of code (64-bit and 32-bit),
2) They both run on the same machine,
3) Security is not an issue,
4) Performance is important.

Answer 1

Run the ASP.NET application processes in 32-bit mode. This is the only way to get it to work.

For example, Crystal Reports XI does not have a 64-bit driver. In order to run the report, you must run the ASP.NET app in 32-bit mode on a 64-bit server.

On IIS 6.0:

Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and
then click OK.

Type the following command to enable
the 32-bit mode:

cscript %SYSTEMDRIVE%\inetpub\adminscripts\adsutil.vbs SET W3SVC/AppPools Enable32bitAppOnWin64 1

Now since the IIS worker process is
running in 32 bit mode we need to
ensure the ASP.NET ISAPI filter is
also changed to the 32 bit version.

Type the following command to install
the version of ASP.NET 2.0 (32-bit)
and to install the script maps at the
IIS root and under:

%SYSTEMROOT%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_regiis.exe –i

In IIS 7.0, you can set the 32 or 64-bit per application pool whereas on IIS 6.0 it’s the entire processes of the server.