ASP (.Net) Community Portal based on XML database Needed…?
I’m looking to setup a Multiple Sclerosis Support Community portal that is ASP or ASP.Net based with an XML database. Ideally it would be either FREE or Open Source. Wanted, but not needed is a module that would function sort of like a MySpace area for each user. Pictures, Videos, Blog, profiles, maybe some games, etc…
Does anyone know of a solution that would more or less fit what I am looking for? Your help would be appreciated.
Thank you.
I should have stated a couple other things. Currently I have One 250mg SQL database available to me with my hosting solution, and if things work out, i’m not sure that DNN would be a viable solution for a few thousand users. The database might get too big.
The reason I was asking for an XML database, or even a Access database, is because I have 250GB of webspace available, and that would allow for database growth.
So It would need to be either a XML or Access database, unless you know first hand that DNN would be able to function for years to come on 250MB for a few thousand users, and storing files in the filesystem instead of the database.
My Apologies for not including this earlier.
dhvrm,
“Believe me, 250 MB is more than enough DB room for a DNN install of a few thousand users, especially if you disable the event log.”
If files are stored in the filesystem, adn not in SQL, how large do you think a SQL DB might be for a community like that?
My hosting is a “Shared Server” Solution with 2.5TB of bandwidth a month.
dhvrm,
I want to thank you for your help and information. I’ve just downloaded the latest DNN, and I will begin looking things over. Thanks again.
http://www.dotnetnuke.com
http://www.asp.net/community/projects/
UPDATE:
Believe me, 250 MB is more than enough DB room for a DNN install of a few thousand users, especially if you disable the event log.
http://www.mitchelsellers.com/Blogs/tabid/54/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/69/Simple-DotNetNuke-Performance-Improvements.aspx
More likely to be an issue is server load. All portals require some overhead due to user authentication / restricted content.
In other words, you’re far more likely to poop the CPU than the DB storage. For a forum that big, I would consider at least a virtual server, such as is sold by fullcontrol.net. SQL Server Express, which is free with them, is perfectly capable of serving a DNN install.
UPDATE 2:
The DNN install itself should take up less than 10 MB.
I read on a BBS as I was researching this question that a guy running DNN with 6,000 users was using about 100 MB of DB space for his install:
http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Community/Forums/tabid/795/forumid/118/threadid/131656/scope/posts/Default.aspx
If e-mail boxes count against your quota, you might want to buy another 250MB of disk space; I bet your host would sell that to you for $5 or so.
Again, shared hosting for a forum of your size is risky not in terms of bandwidth and disk space but in terms of server performance. I’d be worried about pages loading slow, server errors, etc. A community as big as yours really needs its own server, and better yet, separate DB and Web servers.