Chris,
my experience is that you really dont want RDP open to the Internet.
Uploading any kind of file to a server on the internet using the MS filesystem (CIFS) seem to be slow. It's not a fast protocol (CIFS) suitable for anything but work on a LAN in my opinion. Further, the more advanced technology you put on a website, the harder it becomes both to manage and to secure. Programmers and developers are human and make mistakes. These mistakes are what crackers use to compromise security. More code equals more errors and more paths into your system.
Agree that the tools, libraries etc. should be accessible online. That is what a CMS do, besides taking control of how things are presented. With a CMS, like Joomla, the authors dont break the design of the website like no doubt would happen with Expression. Expression is a tool for designing sites, while a CMS is a tool for filling the website with content. That is an important difference.
Said all that; the most important thing is to choose a solution/technology that suits the main content creators to make it as easy as possible for them to keep the site up & alive, well organised and good looking a distant 2nd and 3rd
Spot on!
