I tried to port over some existing PHP software, then utilise an Azure MS SQL database. However it appears that an Azure MS SQL connection requires a completely different PHP extension than a normal MS SQL instance, and while Microsoft themselves have produced one[1] as well as others, I never did get it to work.
I literally spend three solid days trying to get PHP talking to Azure MS SQL. Never did quite get it to work, it took me almost a whole day just to figure out how to install PHP extensions (hint: you have to copy the right type of extension binary into two locations, then reference it in the web-UI as shown[0], if you upload any of the wrong type of binary then nothing loads).
I guess ultimately it was still a "win" for Microsoft as I finally gave up and purchased a much more expensive VPS instead (A0 Basic). $14 Vs. $9. With the VPS I was able to get the whole thing up and running in under an hour Vs. 3 days wasted with Azure websites with no substantial results.
PS - Why haven't the Azure websites team gone through the most popular software on the internet and written guides e.g. Wordpress, Drupal, PHPBB, Magento, etc.
[0] http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/web-...
[1] http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=2009...