Retire Your Data Center: Figure 5: Stage Azure Apps for Testing before Production Deployment
Windows Azure's "Click-Twice" deployment approach lets you test your project in a Staging instance with a private guid.cloudapp.net URL before placing it in production with your AccountName.cloudapp.net URL. Right-clicking on the ProjectName service node and choosing Publish opens a page that lets you browse for your project ProjectName.cspkg package and ServiceConfiguration.cscfg files in the project's …\ProjectName\bin\Debug\Publish folder. Clicking OK exposes the Hosted Service page with the Staging instance in Allocated mode. Click Run to start the staged service, test it with the private URL, click Suspend, and then click the exchange icon to place it in production.
