Web application or web portal

[klodovik]

as title said differences between those 2. I read all the definition and some articles, but I need information about some other aspects.

Here is the thing. We want to build a web site that will contain: site, database, uploads, numerous background services that would have to collect information from uploads and from some other sites, parse them etc...I doubt that there are portlets that fits our specific need so we will have to make them our self.

So, questions: 1. Deployment ( and difference in cost if possible), is deploying portals much more easier then web app ( java or .net) 2. Server load. Does portal consume much of server power ( and can you strip portal of thing that you do not use) 3. Implementation and developing of portlets. Can u make all the things that you could have done in java or .net? 4. General thoughts of when to use portals and when classic web app.

Tnx all in advence...

[livetecshosting]

The biggest difference between a portal and a web app is that a portal implies configurability. DNN tends to lean towards site-wide configurability; however, most portals allow users to configure things to a certain extent. The goal is to allow each user to see what s/he wants and only what s/he wants - a one-stop-shop for all enterprise needs, in a sense (and, when I say "enterprise," that's completely relative to the intended scope of the portal).