Is azure for large applications only?

Question

Recently, I was asked to update the .Net 2.0 WinForms application with the underlying SQL Server Express DB.

One of the requirements is to provide remote users access to the application, so I am considering placement options to avoid setting up a VPN. Data is not sensitive and does not fall under the protection of data, so the main approach to security for the Internet will cover me.

I like the idea of ​​using Azure for several reasons, but I'm not sure if it is suitable for users from 5 or 6 without a real opportunity for growth. I have never used Azure, and I plan to develop using MVC and SQL Server, as this is my core skill set.

A few points in favor of Azure in my mind:

• The tight integration with the TFS preview I'm using for this project.
• Easy to configure sandbox and live version
• Simple maintenance, as I expect other hosted options to require more knowledge of the underlying OS
• By adhering to the full Microsoft stack follows , we hope to make things easier

From what I find on the Azure site, the post is about scalability, which is great if you need it.

My question is simply whether you need a large user base or plan to grow rapidly, use azure, or how should we place applications now?

Answer 1

What you ask here is ideal for Windows Azure websites :

• You get 10 websites for free (without a special DNS, but this is perfect for your sandbox / test version). Common mode supports custom DNS and is very cheap.
• TFS and GitHub preview tight integration
• You do not need to worry about the underlying OS, you just publish it from Visual Studio or using TFS Preview.
• Sticking to the Microsoft stack is the easiest solution, but other technologies also work just fine. Since you're talking about MVC, I assume you are considering ASP.NET MVC, which is ideal for Windows Azure. Check out the tutorial for some good examples.
• The day you need a solution that will be more scalable (which means you will have more users and more revenue), you can easily switch to a backup instance or a cloud service (role Web / Worker).

Answer 2

About your question: "My question is simple: do you need a large user base or plan to grow rapidly, use azure, or how should we place applications now?"

Windows Azure is a cloud service platform (includes PaaS as cloud services, IaaS as Windows Azure Virtual Machines, and the websites offered by Sandrino above), and with cloud services you can start very small and grow as fast and faster as possible user requirements, so you can use Azure with both cases. On the other hand, some of the benefits of using a particular offer depend on which service you intend to use to launch your application.

I think that the article (section: “What should I use? Creating a choice”) will explain the strategy on how you make a choice among the various services.

This SO discussion talks about the difference between cloud services and Azure websites.