Dot Net Nuke

I am playing a bit with Dot Net Nuke on my home IIS server.  If that makes any sense to you, then you are probably a little familiar with Asp.NET.  If not, let me preach on it.

IIS stands for Internet Information Services and is a web server that comes with certain editions of Windows, usually for free.  With it you could host your own website for all the world to see, as long as your internet service provider allows you to (most won’t without some type of “Business” account and higher fees).

Asp.NET is the Microsoft framework for Web applications and services.  That covers the gamut from simple web sites on the internet to corporate enterprise information systems on private networks.  It is intended to be a robust and secure framework that is also easy to work with.  I have worked with Asp.NET on a couple of websites and have had generally good luck with it.

Dot Net Nuke is a CMS created specifically for this Microsoft IIS/Asp.NET environment.  It is more complex than Joomla, but has more things that can be tweaked for look and feel.  It also has an active development community that produce business-ready modules (extensions, plug-ins, etc.) for shopping carts, catalogs, and the like.  So far, I like Dot Net Nuke.

If you don’t have a site yet, and have heard of Dot Net Nuke, here’s some things to think about before deciding that is the way to go.  The top three are Money, Money, Money.

Dot Net Nuke comes in two flavors: Community and Professional.  The first is free, the second costs.  You can get the particulars at http://www.dotnetnuke.com/.

IIS and Asp.NET hosting are another matter.  The reason that I don’t have an example site up for Dot Net Nuke is that I have not been able to find an adequate free or cheap Asp.NET host.  Because of the licensing fees to Microsoft for Server 2003-2008 and the necessary MSSQL Server (the database needed to handle content, user authorization, and so much more), free hosting with any kind of storage capacity or traffic bandwidth just doesn’t seem available.  And the cost for a Microsoft hosting solution is just plain prohibitive.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining (well, maybe a little).  Microsoft products have their use and fill a need for highly complex and secure sites.  It just depends on what you need.

To be perfectly honest, I am only mentioning Dot Net Nuke for comparison.  If your business website needs require a Microsoft platform, you are probably beyond the realm of my comfort zone and beyond the scope of my little enterprise.  However, if you are contemplating a website for your business and are looking at your options, I’d be more than happy to help you compare DNN to the other systems that are available so that you can make an informed choice.