Scott:

As you may know, IIS lets you define access restrictions based on IP address. This feature is only available on a true server, not Win2K Pro or Win XP by the way. You can navigate to the Properties of the site you need to work on, "Directory Security" tab, and then edit the "IP address and domain name restrictions". But this is kind of a pain if you do it frequently, I would script it. Something like a pair of scripts called "RestricON" and "RestricOFF".

I did a quick Google search and found a useful script to do this here: http://www.iisfaq.com/Default.aspx?tabid=2804. That is not exactly what you are looking for but can be easily adjusted to just allow 127.0.0.1 (localhost, or whatever address you want to specify) to access the site for maintenance and then remove the restriction (via another script possibly) when done.

Another alternative is to remove the alias for the external address to the site and just leave localhost. This can also be scripted, either directly to the database table or via a simple module for Administrators only. Related to the alias, you could also play with the Host Header definition in IIS to disable the one the regular users use to connect to the site.

And I have to give you the standard disclaimer, I have not tested the script above or the other suggestions for this purpose, use at your own risk. The alternative you use will also depend of the level of access you have to the server. I may actually work on this later, it sounds like a useful thing to have.

Carlos