title: ASP.NET MVC - Alternatives to databases
body: <p>I thought about splitting this up, but i think it's better as one big question. Here it goes. :-)</p>
  <p>Warning: this question is in-depth. :-)</p>
  <p>I've been working with ASP.NET for a little while now. Just a few days ago, after watching a course on MVC at <a href="http://www.pluralsight-training.net/microsoft/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Pluralsight</a>, i decided to try it out. Development was amazing and very easy, especially with the Entity Framework 4.1. As i searched around for deployment options, i found <a href="http://appharbor.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AppHarbor</a>.  Unfortunately, i ran into some problems. See, i can't just magically port my databases over with the git commit AppHarbor requires.  The problem is, I've never really worked with databases - they've always just worked <a href="https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/26618/what-is-the-purpose-of-using-the-word-automagically-when-we-already-have-autom">automagically</a>. I'm scared stiff of connection strings and the like. I managed to get a database set up on AppHarbor for the ASP.NET Membership stuff (I still need to figure out how to copy over the data and schemas, but i'll figure that out :-)) but i'm clueless on what to do about the Entity Framework SQL Server Compact database, which i'm using to store blog posts and comments. Problems:</p>
  <ol>
  <li>It's not working - MVC/EntityFramwork/Whatever-Is-Automagically-Working-Behind-The-Scenes isn't firing up a new database or whatever</li>
  <li>AppHarbor only allows 1 database (for the free version)</li>
  </ol>
  <p>Potential Solutions?</p>
  <ol>
  <li>Combine the databases. I have no idea how to do this or how i would keep the EntityFramework's Auto-Magic working.</li>
  <li>Adopt a non-database solution for the posts/comments. I realize databases are incredibly more efficient as there's a sort of interface between the literal file and the programs accesing it, so you don't have file locking and stuff. So what would be the best alternative?</li>
  </ol>
  <h2>My Question</h2>
  <p>What's the best way to handle this situation? Not just this particular situation, but the general situation of &quot;crap-i-hate-databases&quot;?</p>
  <p>Ways to answer:</p>
  <ol>
  <li>Recommending that i learn about databases: fine, but please provide some good resources.</li>
  <li>Giving a non-database alternative: awesome.</li>
  <li>Explaining what i need to do to get this all working on AppHarbor (but more generally any deploy server): ideal. I may even set up a bounty just to award it</li>
  </ol>
  <p>Thanks so much in advance; I realize this is a deepish question and the rep garnered may not be worth it. Please let me know if i need to provide any more information.</p>