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I'm writing an application in Node.js for a spare-time, bootstrap project. I have a Windows background and Windows Azure with three-month free trial currently seems like the simplest way to develop, deploy and host the project.

However Windows Azure appears to get expensive after the free trial expires, and in any case I'd like the option to host on non-MS platforms, so I have a couple of questions:

  1. I can see from the tutorial that I need some Windows-specific code to import the port number at which the app should listen - are there many more examples of Windows or Azure specific code requirements further down the line?
  2. I'd like to take a NoSQL approach to data storage since I'm more interested in flexibility and performance than in referential integrity or structural consistency - would it be difficult to wrap Azure Tables in a data access layer that would be reasonably portable to other NoSQL databases such as MongoDB or the various cloud offerings?
  3. Finally, the catch-all question - is there anything else I should be looking out for?
Francis Norton
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2 Answers2

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Tackling your second question: there are modules in the NPM registry that can help you here.

Firstly Microsoft have recently released the Azure SDK for node as an NPM installation module. This has a rich API that will help you interface into Azure Tables.

There are also NoSQL clients available in the NPM registry for most solutions (including MongoDB).

If you keep your data access simple, you should be able to make use of the various NoSQL clients that are available and create a nice little module layer that sits above all the ones you need to support.

You could even create a public github repository and submit your hard work into the NPM registry for other people to help you develop.

Roy
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I have built an app on Windows Azure's node.js support as well and there is virtually no lock in if you stick to npm modules and open platforms.

You should also check into Microsoft's Bizspark program - you get two years of 2 reserved instances for free + storage. Its a great program.

outside2344
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