I went the free route and created a yahoo group site. You will need to have a yahoo email address to have full access of all the features on the site.
We can email (mail can go to your personal address or you can read mail on site only), upload photos which can be stored in albums, store files ( I have put on pdf files and word documents), Links (to put internet web sites for people to use), Databases (so far we have address book), Polls (you set up the questions, time frames etc), and a Calendar.
You will need a moderator of the group to set everything up. Each member is personally invited by the moderator and they have to accept the invitation and then you approve it.
Setting up the site was easy and the instruction were straight forward.
The access to the site is by password and your yahoo id. We have had the site since November 2004.