I'm setting up a site on my server. I toyed with using PHP and MySQL, but in the end went with Microsoft stuff. I don't have much time, so easy-to-learn is critical. And I'm already paying an extra four bucks a month to use Windows 2003 Server, so I might as well go all the way.

IIS 6.0 was already on the server, so first I installed asp.net 3.5. Then in IIS I set Brainminute.com to use asp.net 2.0+ (as explained here). Finally I replaced Inetpub/vhosts/brainminute.com/httpdocs/index.html with a placeholder default.aspx page that I FTPed up using smartFTP.

Next I installed SQL Server Express (Both the DB and the Management Studio). I chose 'Windows Authentication mode' for loggin on, but I don't really understand what that means.

All that sounds easy, but somehow it took me days to figure out and set up. But now it's installed, along with smartfoxserver, and I'm good to go. I'm working through various asp.net tutorials and sql server tutorials, and in the next couple of days I should have a basic brainminute.com up to start playing around with.