How to configure custom domains in SAAS solution (Windows Azure)?

Question

We are building SAAS solution on Windows Azure. Every customer should have possibility to map his custom domain (example.com) to our service. 

According to this article there are two options for mapping custom domain to Azure hosted service:

1. CNAME record (requires a subdomain, like www). Not a case. Option without subdomain is must have.

2. Map an A record to VIP (virtual IP). This is better. It is mentioned that: "The VIP of the deployment is guaranteed not to change unless the deployment for the hosted service is deleted". But a few days ago our IP was suddenly changed without deleting. Currently it is a trial account (90 days) and only one instance is used. Probably that could be a reason.

At first we planned to map custom domains (example.com, etc) to VIP using A record, but it seems it is not stable. At least in trial it is not.

Has anyone built something similar? How to accomplish stable mapping for custom domains?

Answer 1

There are some DNS providers that are able to handle DNS redirection of root domains without subdomains.  What they do is run dedicated servers on their ends and basically use redirect.

GoDaddy is one such example. You register a domain there, use C-NAME to point your domain www.domain.com to your app at app.cloudapp.net.  And you can then redirect the domain.com to app.cloudapp.net using their servers.  Not every DNS provider can do this for you however.  If your DNS provider cannot handle this and you are unable to switch a provider, I would suggest hosting a small server on an IAAS platform of your choice that examines host headers and redirects.

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Auto-scaling & monitoring service for Windows Azure applications at http://www.paraleap.com

Answer 2

Thanks for help. We'll probably check the proposed solution with IAAS. Our local DNS provider does not have possibility to configure redirects.

Answer 3

Andrey,

Quick question.

"But a few days ago our IP was suddenly changed without deleting. Currently it is a trial account (90 days) and only one instance is used. Probably that could be a reason."

Did you redploy the application at all? If so are you deploying using visual studio? It defaults to deleting and creating new a new deployment (instead of actually updating in-place).

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Don Glover: AzureDocGuy

Answer 4

Igor,

This example doesn't seem to work for the New "Web Site" release to beta 6/7/12.

Instead of CloudApp.Net the domain is azurewebsites.net which is shared.. so that might be the issue.

Then again it could just be me :)

Is there any published info for the new gentler, kinder, Azure deployments?

thanks

Pat NH USA

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Pat Pat Tormey PE MVP, Client App Dev, NH USA

Answer 5

Setting a CNAME for the New Windows Azure Web Sites is not currently supported.

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Don Glover: AzureDocGuy