>since none of us have any real background in systems administration For the sake of security and performance you're better off using azure (especially the hos

>since none of us have any real background in systems administration For the sake of security and performance you're better off using azure (especially the hosted database). Otherwise you'll need to configure iptables, backups, software updates, high availability (assuming it's a requirement) all by yourself. If you don't have experience in these things you don't want to be learning how to do them with the thing that generates your revenue.