How to Choose Windows Azure Websites, Web Roles, or VMs
Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.
Join For FreeThe June 7th update to Windows Azure introduced two new services (Widows Azure Websites and persistent VMs) that beg the question “When should I use a Windows Azure Website vs. a Web Role vs. a VM?” That’s exactly the question I’ll try to help you answer in this post. (I say “help you answer” because there is no simple, clear-cut answer in all cases. What I’ll try to do here is give you enough information to help you make an informed decision.)
The following table should give you some idea of what each option is ideal for:
Windows Azure Web Sites are ideal for… | Windows Azure Web Roles are ideal for... | Windows Azure Virtual Machines are ideal for... |
Modern Web Apps |
Multi-tier Applications |
Server Applications |
Continuous Development |
Apps that require advanced administration |
Existing line-of-business apps |
Popular Open Source Apps |
Apps that require advanced networking |
Windows or Linux |
Actually, I think the use cases for VMs are wide open. You can use them for just about anything you could imagine using a VM for. The tougher distinction (and decision) is between Web Sites and Web Roles. The following table should give you some idea of what Windows Azure features are available in Web Sites and Web Roles:
Feature |
|
|
Access to services like Caching, Service Bus, Storage, SQL Azure Database |
Yes |
Yes |
Support for ASP.NET, classic ASP, Node.js, PHP |
Yes |
Yes |
Shared content and configuration |
Yes |
No |
Deploy code with GIT, FTP |
Yes |
No |
Near-instant deployment |
Yes |
No |
Integrated MySQL-as-a-service support |
Yes |
Yes* |
Multiple deployment environments (production and staging) |
No |
Yes |
Network isolation |
No |
Yes |
Remote desktop access to servers |
No |
Yes |
Ability to run programs with elevated permissions |
No |
Yes |
Ability to define/execute start-up tasks |
No |
Yes |
Ability to use unsupported frameworks or libraries |
No |
Yes |
Support for Windows Azure Connect/ Windows Azure Network |
No |
Yes |
* Web or Worker Roles can integrate MySQL-as-a-service through ClearDB's offerings, but not as part of the Management Portal workflow.
As I said earlier, it’s impossible to provide a definitive answer to the question of which option you should use (Web Sites, Web Roles, or VMs). It really does depend on your application. With that said, I hope the information in the tables above helps you decide what is right for your application. Of course, if you have any questions and/or feedback, let us know in the comments.
Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.
Comments