Right now A website for NON PROFIT organization developed using ALL FREE open source technologies. ( Apache, Php , Mysql ) We really want to change ( Rewrite) it to Microsoft asp.net 3.5. Do I need to buy licensed copy of .net ? can I use free express edition? Being a non profit organization, Budget is the main problem. How can I develop a website in asp.net economically? Your help is appreciated. Thank you!!
Problem with Php is it’s not like .net. To implement simple things it takes too long. Our programmers are asking to use .Net.If I take express edition with valid windows license what else do I need?Why the size of sql server is an issue? We will be hosting it in shared hosting environment with their monthly charges.Do I have to find hosting environment with IIS?Right now our programmers just copy php files to web directory. How will it change with express edition?Do I need to use window installer? Or use publish wizard?Thank you for your comments.
2010-01-27 14:21:10
+1
A:
You can use the free Visual Web Developer Express Edition.
However, you'll still need to pay for an IIS web host (Just like LAMP)
EDIT: In response to your comment: You will need to find an ASP.Net webhost with SQL Server (Note that some hosts charge extra for SQL Server).
All that you need is Visual Studio; the express editions will be just fine.
You can simply copy the ASP.Net folder structure to the web server over FTP.
Visual Studio's Publish wizard will do that for you, and will publish only the files you need, so you might as well use it.
SLaks
2010-01-27 13:54:53
Problem with Php is it’s not like .net. To implement simple things it takes too long. Our programmers are asking to use .Net.If I take express edition with valid windows license what else do I need?Why the size of sql server is an issue? We will be hosting it in shared hosting environment with their monthly charges.Do I have to find hosting environment with IIS?Right now our programmers just copy php files to web directory. How will it change with express edition?Do I need to use window installer? Or use publish wizard?Thank you for your comments.
2010-01-27 14:20:11
+1
A:
.NET Framework is a free product (as in beer). Of course, you need a valid Windows license to use that.
Visual Studio Express Editions are really capable of building complex applications.
The real problem might come down to SQL Server. While there's a free Express Edition, it has database size limitations (4GB/database) and it can only use a single processor and 1GB RAM. If you have a large amount of data, that part can become expensive. Of course, you can still use MySQL as your data store.
That said, it's possible to host ASP.NET apps on Linux with Mono and Apache.
Mehrdad Afshari
2010-01-27 13:57:32
Problem with Php is it’s not like .net. To implement simple things it takes too long. Our programmers are asking to use .Net.If I take express edition with valid windows license what else do I need?Why the size of sql server is an issue? We will be hosting it in shared hosting environment with their monthly charges.Do I have to find hosting environment with IIS?Right now our programmers just copy php files to web directory. How will it change with express edition?Do I need to use window installer? Or use publish wizard?Thank you for your comments.
2010-01-27 14:19:00
Oh, I assumed you want to set up your own server. If you go with a shared hosting, it's OK. You just need a shared host that supports ASP.NET. It'll have IIS. You wouldn't need to do anything special with ASP.NET either. You'd just copy files via FTP or any other method that the shared hosting provider might provide.
Mehrdad Afshari
2010-01-27 14:23:11
A:
Why not stick with Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP? There's nothing you can do in .NET that you can't do using these technologies and a tech-refresh will be a costly business. Hosting is typically cheaper for these also.
Other than this, you can write .NET using the express editions from Microsoft - although these are obviously cut-down versions of the full products.
Sohnee
2010-01-27 13:58:25
Problem with Php is it’s not like .net. To implement simple things it takes too long. Our programmers are asking to use .Net.If I take express edition with valid windows license what else do I need?Why the size of sql server is an issue? We will be hosting it in shared hosting environment with their monthly charges.Do I have to find hosting environment with IIS?Right now our programmers just copy php files to web directory. How will it change with express edition?Do I need to use window installer? Or use publish wizard?Thank you for your comments.
2010-01-27 14:21:26
Well, I'm a full time .NET developer, but I've also written large projects in PHP. Neither language prevents you from working quickly - using frameworks helps speed things up for both. If you are planning on using SQL server, you should check the cost. You have to pay on top of your hosting fee and it can be quite expensive. You don't have to use MS SQL server - you can use an express edition with limitations or MySQL. You can still copy files to a server like you do with PHP, although most developers in the .NET world create an "MSI" installer. Ideally, you will be after a Windows (IIS) Host.
Sohnee
2010-01-28 08:09:40