Re: Recommendations for an IIS intranet

According to the feature matrix comparing Outlook Web Access to Outlook on Microsoft's site, Outlook Web Access is a built-in component of Exchange Server 2007. It offers most email, some calender, some productivity, and some of the other functionality of Outlook 2007 paired with Exchange. Perhaps that's the first place to look, as it already integrates with Exchange and all.

You'll need far more for this sort of thing than just a template system or web framework. You'll also need at least:

DBI and a suitable DBD for your SQL database
Net::LDAP for access to ActiveDirectory (which would also be handy if you were making your own phone book/address book app)
some connector to Exchange if you want the calendering to mate with that
an RSS reading and perhaps aggregation module

You'll also need some other parts (some of which will be provided by some web frameworks) if you don't tie directly into Exchange's data for these parts:

Date or Time modules for separate calender functionality
some way to manage user accounts (creation, deletion, authentication, editing)
some way to manage the sessions of the logged-in users
an interface to get your address book data into and out of an SQL database or an LDAP directory

There are parts of this intranet of yours out there, but you'd have to piece them together. Getting them to work in an integrated way could be a hassle. Consider what Microsoft offers already made since you're tied to the Windows/IIS/Exchange platform.

Comment on Re: Recommendations for an IIS intranet

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Re^2: Recommendations for an IIS intranet by Bloodnok (Vicar) on Apr 10, 2009 at 12:58 UTC
I coudln't agree more with you, mr_mischief, but would... beware of the (apparent) non-maintained status of Net::LDAP commiserate with the mandated architecture A user level that continues to overstate my experience :-))	[reply]
Re^3: Recommendations for an IIS intranet by 5mi11er (Deacon) on Apr 17, 2009 at 21:22 UTC
Net::LDAP not being maintained is not an issue. In fact, it points to the fact that LDAP as a technology is currently relatively static because it does it's job, works quite well, and is extensible without having to muck with the internals of LDAP. Just because something isn't obviously maintained isn't enough to signify a dead/rotting library. You need to look into its maturity level, and whether it is being used a lot. LDAP is a wonderfully useful tool, that is used a lot, but it's quiet enough that many smaller shops may not have been introduced to it yet. The fact that Active Directory is built on top of LDAP is something Microsoft would rather not advertise. But that fact alone is enough to tell you that it won't be going away any time soon. -Scott	[reply]
Re^4: Recommendations for an IIS intranet by Bloodnok (Vicar) on Apr 17, 2009 at 21:57 UTC
If you'll forgive me, you appear to be mistaking the maturity of DAP/LDAP technology with that of Net::LDAP - the perl interface library to it. The maturity of the DAP/LDAP technology and its volume of usage was and is, not in question - I only questioned the maintenance levels of the library since when last I had occasion to use it in anger, there were a couple of shortfalls - related, as it happens, to the M$/LDAP crossover (M$, in not atypical fashion i.e. in a manner similar to Java etc., took LDAP and modified it to their own ends & needs such that AD only partially resembles LDAP). A user level that continues to overstate my experience :-))	[reply]