Zero Downtime Upgrade strategies in Windows Azure

1. Zero downtime upgrade
Pavlo Revenkov
EPAM Cloud Computing Competency Center
Email: pavlo_revenkov@epam.com
Skype: rp_risingstar

2. PaaS: Web deploy
2
contoso.cloudapp.net
v1.0.1
RDP
v1.0.1
v1.0
Web-role #1
Workstation
Storage
v1.0
Web-role #2
lexcorp.cloudapp.net

3. Comparison
PRO
3
CONTRA
- No need to re-deploy instance
- Minor changes (patch)
- Automatic instance update
- Changes lost if instance recycled
- Small update size
- Support Web-roles only
- Visual Studio support
- RDP connection required
- Virtual machines are not supported

4. PaaS: VIP-swap
4
Production
Instance #1
v1.1
v1.0
contoso.cloudapp.net
Instance #2
Workstation
Staging
Instance #1
v1.1
{guid}.cloudapp.net
Instance #2

5. Comparison
PRO
5
CONTRA
- DNS swap takes seconds
- Virtual machines are not supported
- Isolated testing environment
- Additional costs for staging
- Changes can be reverted easily
- Configuration should be identical
- Visual Studio support
- Web/Worker roles are supported

6. IaaS: Load Balanced Endpoint
6
80
Instance #1
v1.1
v1.0
v1.1
80
Instance #2
contoso.cloudapp.net
Workstation
80
Instance #3
80
Instance #4

7. Comparison
PRO
7
CONTRA
- Easy scaling process
- Manual upgrade process
- Virtual machines support
- Additional costs for new instances
- No performance degradation
- Two versions running the same time
- No instances downtime
- Configuration cannot be changed
- No Visual Studio support

8. IaaS: Traffic Manager
v1.1
8
Instance #1
v1.0
prod.cloudapp.net
Instance #2
Workstation
contoso.trafficmanager.net
Instance #1
v1.1
stage.cloudapp.net
Instance #2

9. Comparison
PRO
9
CONTRA
- Isolated testing environment
- Traffic Manager additional costs
- Reconfiguration takes seconds
- Additional costs for staging
- Virtual machines support
- No Visual Studio support
- Configuration can be changed
- Changes can be reverted easily

10. Demo
10

11. References
11
Using Web Deploy in Windows Azure Application:
 msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ff683672.aspx
How to manage Cloud Services:
 windowsazure.com/en-us/documentation/articles/cloud-services-how-to-manage
Load balancing virtual machines:
 windowsazure.com/en-us/documentation/articles/load-balance-virtual-machines/
Windows Azure Traffic Manager Overview:
 msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/hh744833.aspx

12. Questions?
12