How to host customer developed code server side
- by user963263
I'm developing a multi-tenant web application, most likely using ASP.NET MVC5 and Web API.
I have used business applications in the past where it was possible to upload custom DLL's or paste in custom code to a GUI to have custom functions run server side. These applications were self hosted and single-tenant though so the customer developed bits didn't impact other clients.
I want to host the multi-tenant web application myself and allow customers to upload custom code that will run server side. This could be for things like custom web services that client side JavaScript could interact with, or it could be for automation steps that they want triggered server side asynchronously when a user takes a particular action.
Additionally, I want to expose an API that allows customers' code to interact with data specific to the web application itself. Client code may need to be "wrapped" so that it has access to appropriate references - to our custom API and maybe to a white list of approved libraries.
There are several issues to consider - security, performance (infinite loops, otherwise poorly written code, load balancing, etc.), receive compiled DLL's or require raw code, etc.
Is there an established pattern for this sort of thing or a sample project anyone can point to? Or any general recommendations?
