I could really do with some feedback on the follwoig questions regarding DNN before using it.

How does dnn stand on the following issues

-       Security

-       Scalability web farms and load balancing?

-       Architecture can we divide the tiers? Does it utilise the MVC pattern? How restrictive is the portal? Can we separate the web front end from the middle tiers?

-       Persistence can we utilise multiple databases, servers and instances? Does it utilise transactions when using a DBMS?

-       Authentication Does it support multiple domains / realms and trusts, can we plug in our own user directory in the future?

-       Support how vibrant is the community, how often are vulnerabilities detected and long before they're patched? 

-       Deployment how do we deploy and patch both the code base and our own modules, across web farms and applications tiers?

-       Modules Do we use wikis for departments to edit their own areas how are authentication and hierarchy implemented, are they rich enough?

-       Vendor-lock-in implications - if it goes belly up or we want to change, how do we do this? If we want to change wiki or blog modules can we migrate data to alternatives?

security: - you may find further info on Cathals blog as his role is security in DNN:
http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Community...fault.aspx

I do know that in the past some programmers took the core basics and then redesigned it to work for their own high security levels. - ie. government sites. The only other source I can provide you with is to look through the pdf docs that are included with DNN.

On another level related to support, if any security problems are identified by the core team, they are fixed quickly and a point release is made to the community. - So Support is good. - You get additional support benefits if you become a benefactor of DNN.

The community is vibrant, but you may find that once you reach a certain expereince level that any problems you have with DNN it is up to you to find a solution. - Personally, in most cases nowadays, if i post a problem on DNN.com I generally do not get an answer and have to work it out for myself - so that is something to be aware of.

Scalability - it has the option for this and there are some details in the docs, but I have not set this up.

Vendor-lock-in - It all depends on how the module is programmed and whether or not the new modules data structure is similar. - I know for instance some users have managed to transfer data from one forum module to a new forum module, so yes this is possible - but you will need good experience with SQL. - However I also have a couple of sites locked in DNN v2 where they rely on a certain module that is no longer supported by the developer and there is no alternative to the module in the later versions of DNN.

One experience I have where I created a recycling directory was that I discovered it was a much better and quicker solution to programme the modules to get the exact functionality that I required rather than use a snowcovered module where the module covers some of my needs but doesn't deliver everything I need. - This could be something to consider, especially where you mentioned in the previous post that you require full audit trails.