If you assume that this question has been asked many times before (and btw: you are right with the assumption): Why don't you use the search function of the forum to find the according threads and answers? It either solves your question directly or it gives you valuable hints to ask in a more qualified way. Why do you instead expect the users to answer the same question over and over again that has already been discussed countless times and is easy to find in the forum?
There are a lot of different ways to use/build a portal site and which one is best depends from your needs and your intentions. As you do not provide any information it is atm not possible to provide a useful answer and a waste of time trying it.