FTP, SMS, and Email

Question

We just picked up a project where a data feed provider will FTP XML files to our root folder. We'll be parsing them and updating our SQL Azure (most likely) database.

Based on updated values, we will be sending either SMS or email messages to subscribed users.

Can we do all of this with Azure? Are there restrictions on SMS or email? We need to know how to architect everything and we're leaning to Azure but need to make sure we can do what the client wants.

Thanks,

Ross

Answer 1

Your best bet will be to leverage 3rd party services. You should be abe to find a service vendor that can handle the SMS/email side of things. As for the FTP item, there are some other pieces that allow you to host an FTP server in Window Azure.

The easiest approach or you may be to leverage Windows Azure Virtual Machines. Create a server 2008 VM image (which will be persistent, unlike Windows Azure Cloud Services), and spin up what you need there. If you're not familiar with Windows Azure, this will likely be your least path of resist and get you up and running fastest.