Get an Azure hosted Web API deployment for free with Azure Websites

Hi all,

I was looking at doing a rough draft (think POC) for an app and wanted to use WebAPI for the back end. Azure hosting came to mind so I had a play creating a cloud service. Unfortunately my azure bill, mainly from the beeb live tile’s using up bandwidth, is already more than enough.

This was when I realised that you can host MVC 4 projects in Azure Websites and the shared instances allow 10 free sites. This means I can quickly setup a simple Web API, that isn’t going to see huge traffic or require gigantic resources, for free and use this to build out the app!

*Quick note – Azure Websites are in preview so the usual caveats apply*

Another cool feature that I’ll cover in another post is that you can set it up to publish from TFS by integrating with tfs.visualstudio.com to get a completed continuous integration solution.

Simple Guide:

Detailed guide - http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/tutorials/get-started/

1. Setup a new shared website through the azure portal.

1. Download the publishing profile and save it to you disk

1. Create your WebAPI Project in Visual Studio

1. Add in some code, this is the default controller you’ll get with the project.
2. Right click the project and select publish then import the publishing profile you downloaded.

1. Click publish and your site it live, for free and hosting a nice Web API.
2. Just to prove it the values controller returns as expected.

More info - http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/home/scenarios/web-sites/