Method #1
If you have some time to spend, I suggest using CruiseControl.NET. For a while at least, the stackoverflow team used this for deployments.
Method #2
As far as copy strategies go, I recommend using a combination of 7zip and ftp for application and media. 7Zip is nice, as it allows you to exclude file types (web.config), folders, and file types, and allows you to compress different files differently. Example, there is no point in compressing a PNG. Note, this does a full deployment every time. So, if you have large media folders, I'd handle them separately.
As for the database, I believe you will have the best of luck using SQL Compare by Redgate. They are commercial applications, but they are very, very good. They've been positively mentioned multiple times on the stackoverflow podcasts.
- Build a CMD file on the development/build server that generates the master 7zip file and FTP's it to a dedicated folder on the staging (or production) server. I end up with multiple calls to 7zip feeding files into a single 7zip file, using different compression methods for each batch.
- Build a CMD file for each staging or production server. This file will execute proper file backups, and extract the 7zip file to the proper location.
A deployment to staging will go like this:
- Execute your 7zip-prep command file which will trigger FTP upload to a dedicated FTP folder on the staging server
- Execute DB changes against the staging database server via scripts generated by SQL Compare
- Execute 7zip extraction command file on the staging server
This is the method that I use. I have not invested the time to master CruiseControl.NET, but when I do I will probably use it instead, at least for larger applications. It's not a one-click deployment, but it allows for multiple efficient deployments per day (as I've been doing off and on for few years now). The 7zip method is nice, because once you have your command files, you can copy them and use them for new projects very quickly.
