Question

I am attempting to deploy an app to Windows Azure and I am having some trouble figuring out how I can achieve my optimal configuration because of lack of documentation and newness of the Azure infrastructure. I need to have two virtual machines configured (One Linux box and one Windows Server with SQL Server) to communicate with one Web Role Instance. The Web Role should have the only end point accessible from the outside world. It should be able to communicate with SQL Server and the Linux machine (these machines don’t need to communicate with each other). I can achieve this if I open up endpoints on the VM (for example Port 1433 on the Windows machine and the same port in the VM’s firewall), however I am concerned about the security risk of doing this and would rather have the Web Role communicate directly with my virtual machine WITHOUT opening up an endpoint (using the Azure Portal). I have read some examples that refer to deploying the items as a cloud service, but none include a Web Role AND a CUSTOMIZED Virtual Machine. I have seen references made to using a Virtual Network, but no examples. I have looked everywhere for a solution to no success. This seems like a common scenario, so I don’t think it should be this difficult. Am I missing something?

Answer 1

Well you have 2 options here: use Windows Azure Connect or use Virtual Networks. Since you’re really trying to make a network of different machines I would suggest to use a Virtual Network (I think this is the most flexible option). And connecting your Virtual Machines to your Cloud Services is pretty easy:

1. Create a Virtual Network as described here: Create a Virtual Network in Windows Azure
2. Add your Virtual Machines to that network as described here: Add a Virtual Machine to a Virtual Network
3. Modify the ServiceConfiguration.cscfg of your cloud service to connect to your Virtual Network. The schema is available on MSDN or you can follow the blog post on Michael Washam’s blog.