Real time dashboards

Question

I need to add a real time dashboard of data to a ASP.NET MVC application. The dashboard needs to be refreshed every few minutes from SQL server 2008. I was going to use ASP.NET MVC, with jQuery and AJAX. But Silverlight 3 is a possible option (each client has Silverlight 3 installed). I know WPF, is it worth the jump to SL 3 for this?

Answer 1

For a dashboard, I think a JQuery solution works best and that is the direction I would go in. I'm still a little unsold on the long term future of Silverlight compared to the AJAX/HTML 5 future.

I would only go to SL 3 under one of the 2 scenarios below.

1. You need a rich UI experience (ex. fancy charts, graphs, etc..) that WPF/SL will help you achieve easier. If the user interacts with the dashboard, then that makes it a good candidate
2. You want to learn SL 3 or want your team to learn SL 3

Answer 2

Best way can be to use different vendors for dashboarding and data visualization.

For example you can use [Dundas][1] charts, maps or silverlight for data visualization and combine these controls with [Kalitte Dynamic Dashboard][2].

Answer 3

A dashboard is an excellent use of Silverlight. You can create some terrific looking UIs and it can be used to create a very compelling visual experience. Charts and gauges will pop off the screen. Your data will look incredible.

There is a learning curve when developing your first Silverlight app so make sure that you're clear on what the final product will be. If the requirements are well defined, you'll be able to determine if you think it is something that you and your team will be able to achieve.

Answer 4

It's an important decision because if you switch to silverlight you are now in a different platform. No viewstate, no Asp.Net form controls and others.

So before going to prepare a dashboard I recommend yo to decide to switch to silverlight. In my opinion, of if I were you, I would use silverlight for data visualization and choose Asp.Net for data listing. For example you can use free data visualization libraries of silverlight (charts, gauges) and combine it with Kalitte's solution. See a demo at www.dynamicdashboards.net. It uses Silverlight to visuzalize geo data, uses free Ms Charts to visualiza sales data and uses any Asp.Net server control.