Question

Does anyone know if one can host a website using the VMRole in Windows Azure?

If I have IIS running on the VM can I access that from the outside?

Also, if I scale to multiple instances of the same VM, will that endpoint be automatically load balanced, just like a WebRole?

Note: There are some requirements that I have that cannot be accomplished with the WebRole, so that is why I am not using it. (if you were wondering)

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Yes, you can host a web site in an VM Role. The VM Role must be Windows 2008 R2, which has IIS, so you should have everything you need to support your website. You’ll just need to work with HyperV locally to construct the VHD, then prep it with Windows Azure tools, etc.

Just curious: What specific requirements do you have that cannot be accomplished with a Web Role? There are three core use cases for VM Role:

• The setup process cannot be automated
• The setup process is not 100% reliable (e.g. installers periodically fail)
• The setup process takes too long (maybe more than 5 minutes or so)

With startup tasks, you shouldn’t have any restrictions on installing software, registering COM controls, modifying the registry, etc.