Windows Azure’s IaaS components have just reached GA (General Availability) status. There is also a SharePoint Template existing which can be used to host SharePoint 2013 Farms on Windows Azure IaaS. Microsoft is also providing a whitepaper describing how to scale and create a SharePoint Farm on Windows Azure using all the great features offered by the Windows Azure Cloud. You can find the whitepaper here (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=288782&clcid=0x409)

Azure IaaS Catalog with SharePoint machines

Within the whitepaper they’re describing the minimal requirements for a complete OnDemand SharePoint 2013 Farm containing

  • Domain Controller (Active Directory)
  • Microsoft SQL Server
  • SharePoint 2013 Application Services
  • SharePoint 2013 WFE

As we’re here talking about IaaS, you’ve to create Windows Azure Virtual Machines for each of these roles in the farm. The whitepaper recommends the following sizes per role:

Role Size Hardware
Domain Controller small 1 Core 1.75 GB Memory
SQL Server extra large 8 Cores 14 GB Memory
SP 2013 Application Server large 4 Cores 7 GB Memory
SP 2013 Web Frontend Server large 4 Cores 7 GB Memory

Bigger configurations are also available

Configuration Name Hardware
A6 4 Cores 28 GB Memory
A7 8 Cores 56 GB Memory

However, what will my SharePoint Farm cost when I run it on Windows Azure Iaas? The Calculation is straightforward and based on the current costs for Windows VMs. I assume that each machine is available for the same amount of time.

Azure IaaS - Calculating SP Fram Price

In my opinion, this is a large step in direction cloud computing and definitively an option when you are looking forward to hosting a new SharePoint environment. Combined to the costs for the metal, internet connection, power, and maintenance $1000 for a SharePoint 2013 isn’t that expensive (IMO).