Azure flexibility in geolocation and specs

Question

I'm reading about Azure and there are a couple of things I don't understand:

1. If I choose put a server on Europe, why can't I move it to another datacenter afterwards?
2. If I choose a size for a worker/web role, could I upgrade it to a bigger one afterwards?
3. I think I've read that I cannot put different instances of a worker/web role with different sizes working together? Am I right? And in affirmative case, why?
4. What is cheaper? a big VM with a nicely multithreaded worker role or multiple single-threaded worker roles in several small VMs?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

1. You can. You'll just have to republish your app into another data center. Now, moving data will be very tricky, as you'll have to move your data by yourself. Having your app in one data center talk to your storage accounts in another maybe cost prohibitive and defeating the purpose of having the app be responsive to local users

2. Yep, just redeploy your app with changed configuration

3. If I understood your question correctly, you can. ie: you can have small web role and xtra-large worker role in one deployment.

4. That totally depends on your app. I suggest profiling both scenarios. It is real easy to redeploy your app with different configurations w/o users noticing.

Hope this helps