Is it possible to host SQL server in the cloud and connect an ASP.NET app hosted on DiscountASP?

Question

Does anyone know if it's possible to host a SQL server in the cloud and connect an ASP.NET app hosted on DiscountASP?

I'd like to consolidate my SQL Server instances but keep the web app hosting where it's at. There are various reasons for I want to do this and I don't particularly want to get into it. I don't have any experience with cloud computing but I'm trying to wrap my head around it. It seems to be similar to standard hosting except for the metered billing and flexibility. If my idea is nuts and flawed, feel free to let me know, but be nice. ;-)

Answer 1

Yes, but subject to the following:

• Unless your cloud provider offers a VPN or you otherwise encrypt the data, all traffic will be unencrypted over the internet
• It will probably be slow as every DB operation goes over the internet.
• Some cloud providers (Amazon for sure) charge for internet traffic but not for internal traffic.

Answer 2

Depnding on what features you use of SQL Server, SQL Azure hosting is close to production, it goes live for the US datacentres in January (PDC announcement) and billing for the service starts in February. At present though the database limits are purely 1GB and 10GB which is a bit limiting, but if your data can be partitioned across databases and the app can be changed to understand this then the limitation is not so harsh.

It has limitations on functionality etc but it is a potential choice that could be investigated - but not the only one.