Do I need Bea Weblogic Portal for simple web site ?

Question

I have a decision making situation here to use or not to use Bea Weblogic portal 8.1 for my web application along with struts.
Situation : Application has service( batch process with client applications, hand held devices ) and web ( browser based interaction ) oriented architecture. Data flows into centralized system and this data being diagnosed for analysis and displayed on web ( text and as graphical charts ).
I do not see much content management required like Yahoo, but have lots of configurable dynamic presentation . ( dynamic page views DHTML, graphical charts etc,�.).
Question : Is Bea Weblogic Portal 8.1 of any use in this situation ?
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

First let me thank you("duffymo") for your interest in responding to this post.You're most welcome.
I am in elementary at BEA WLP, trying to understand and use it for the first time.
I am analysing at very high level view of architecture.Thinking before doing is an excellent idea. I commend you for exploring it before plunging in.
Struts brings the frame work for web application that controls flow and model.
Seems to be WLP brings the personalization to the web site.I think that's correct. Struts is a JSP/servlet-based Web presentation framework that helps you maintain MVC separation using a Model-2 scheme. (Google for unfamiliar terms.)
Bringing WLP in to the picture makes any sense.I agree if you meant "does not make any sense". You don't need a portal, based on your earlier description. Roles might be in play here. You'll have one for each of the three scenarios that you described in your earlier response.
You'll NEVER have a situation where someone will have the client and admin views visible at the same time. It sounds like your three roles are mutually exclusive. In that case a portal isn't necessary.
Do they;( Bea WLP, Struts ) go hand in hand in the same architecture. Can I achieve the same by just
using struts with out WLP.You can certainly use Struts with BEA's WebLogic. That's a J2EE app server, which has a servlet/JSP engine built in. Maybe that's the confusion here. Is your client insisting that you use WebLogic or the Portal product? They work together. I don't believe you can use the Portal product without WebLogic, but you can use WebLogic without the Portal. Clarify that point with your customer. Maybe they're just asking that you deploy on WebLogic. THAT is quite sensible.
You need to ask your customer another question: do they already have a license for WebLogic and Portal, and is the software installed and running, or are they planning to buy one for the sake of this project? If they want to spend the money and give you a chance to learn WebLogic by all means let them, but know that there are other, free alternatives. (e.g., Tomcat, JBoss, etc.)
Here's one for you: how familiar are you with J2EE? Have you done any projects with EJBs? Will this project require them? How well do you know Struts/servlets/JSPs/JSTL, or will this be your first time with them, too?
I would like to learn WLP feature, but trying to save money for my client by not using too many
technologies.I agree. It's something you can add on later if you need it. Best to get the base application up and running first.