CODEWITHSUNDEEP
azureazure-storageazure-virtual-machine
Jonas Stawski
Jonas Stawski

Reputation: 6752

SSAS on a Virtual Machine in Azure

With the lack of native SSAS support on Azure I am inclined to install it on a VM Role. I want to know if this sounds like a feasible option. Questions that come to mind:

  1. It sounds like the VM drive is persisted on Azure Storage. Is this efficient for holding a SQL Server installation? Or are the drives not durable at all?
  2. Can this VM be able to communicate with SQL Azure, Worker Roles, and Web Roles?
  3. Can SSAS be accessed by Worker Roles and Web Roles?
  4. If the answer to 2 or 3 is yes. Would the traffic be considered internal traffic or would it be subject to data transfer rates?

Thanks,

Upvotes: 2

Views: 2171

Answers (2)

AvkashChauhan
AvkashChauhan

Reputation: 20576

The answers are as below:

  1. Yes. You sure can use SQL Server 2008/2012 on any Azure VM. Be sure to have larger VM for better performance.
  2. Yes, you can connect directly to Azure VM in between role as long as you have opened proper ports. As long as all machines are in Same DC this will not have any problem or need any special configuration.
  3. Yes. #2 applies.
  4. As long your egress/ingress is between all those machines are within same DC, it is all considered internal traffic.

Upvotes: 1

Herve Roggero
Herve Roggero

Reputation: 5249

Yes - with the latest Virtual Machine announcements the drives are durable. So you can install SSAS on a VM along with SQL Server. Check out the details of the preview program here: https://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/home/features/virtual-machines/

A VM can communicate to SQL Azure like an other application as long as you open up the firewall to allow internal connections. I am not sure what you mean by accessing Worker Roles from a VM; what do you have in mind? Generally speaking you can access other endpoints through URLs; beware however that IP Addresses can change, so it's a good idea to have formal URLs for machines/end points you are trying to connect to.

The reverse is true as well; worker roles can communicate with other endpoints; just don't use IP addresses because they could change on you.

If you are deploying all your services within the same data center in Azure, it would all be internal traffic, so you would not be charged for that traffic.

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions