13 Dec 2011

Microsoft is holding a special Learn Windows Azure training event today for developers. It should prove to be a great way to learn about the Windows Azure platform and the capabilities it provides.

This should prove to be a great online session for attendees to learn how to build cloud-based applications using Windows Azure. An added treat is that the session will be delivered by three of Microsoft’s foremost technology experts, Scott Guthrie, Dave Campbell, and Mark Russinovich. Having heard each of these gentlemen speak during my tenure at Microsoft, you won’t be disappointed.

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Windows Azure Appliance Announcement

Technology

13 Jul 2010

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Yesterday during our Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) being held in Washington, DC, Bob Muglia, President of our Server and Tools Division at Microsoft, announced the limited availability of our Windows Azure Platform Appliance.

Windows Azure™ Platform Appliance is a turnkey cloud platform that customers can deploy in their own datacenter, across hundreds to thousands of servers. The Windows Azure platform appliance consists of Windows Azure, SQL Azure and a Microsoft-specified configuration of network, storage and server hardware. This hardware will be delivered by a variety of partners.

The appliance is designed for service providers, large enterprises and governments and provides a proven cloud platform that delivers breakthrough datacenter efficiency through innovative power, cooling and automation technologies.

To learn more about what the appliance has to offer to your organization, head over to the Windows Azure Portal.

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Windows Azure Architecture Guide Part 1 – Released

Technology

2 Jul 2010

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The Microsoft patterns & practices team are up to it again. Fresh on the heels of releasing the Developing Applications for SharePoint 2010 guidance, they’ve recently released part 1 of the Windows Azure Architecture Guidance.

What’s in the Windows Azure Architecture Guide – Part 1?

Component	Description
The Guide	“Introduction to the Windows Azure Platform”provides an overview of the platform to get you started with Windows Azure. It describes web roles and worker roles, and the different ways you can store data in Windows Azure. It’s probably a good idea that you read this before you go to the scenarios.“The Adatum Scenario” introduces you to the Adatum company and the aExpense application. The following chapters describe how Adatum migrates the aExpense application to the cloud. Reading this chapter will help you understand why Adatum wants to migrate some of its business applications to the cloud, and it describes some of its concerns. “Getting to the Cloud” describes the first steps that Adatum takes in migrating the aExpense application. Adatum’s goal here is simply to get the application working in the cloud, but this includes “big” issues, such as security and storage. “How Much Will It Cost?” introduces a basic cost model for the aExpense application running on Windows Azure and calculates the estimated annual running costs for the application. This chapter is optional. You don’t need to read it before you go on to the following scenarios. “Automating Deployment and Using Windows Azure Storage” describes how Adatum uses PowerShell scripts and the Microsoft Build Engine (MSBuild) to automate deploying aExpense to Windows Azure. It also describes how Adatum switches from using SQL Azure to Windows Azure Table Storage in the aExpense application and discusses the differences between the two storage models. “Uploading Images and Adding a Worker Role” describes adding a worker role to the aExpense application and shows how aExpense uses Windows Azure Blob Storage for storing scanned images. “Application Life Cycle Management for Windows Azure Applications” discusses how to manage developing, testing, and deploying Windows Azure applications. This chapter is optional. You don’t need to read it before you go on to the last scenario. “Adding More Tasks and Tuning the Application” shows how Adatum adds more tasks to the worker role in the aExpense application. In this phase, Adatum also evaluates the results of performance testing the application and makes some changes based on the results.
The companion samples	The samples illustrate all scenarios covered in the book. They provide a “single box” experience with minimal infrastructure requirements.

Component

Description

The Guide

“Introduction to the Windows Azure Platform”provides an overview of the platform to get you started with Windows Azure. It describes web roles and worker roles, and the different ways you can store data in Windows Azure. It’s probably a good idea that you read this before you go to the scenarios.“The Adatum Scenario” introduces you to the Adatum company and the aExpense application. The following chapters describe how Adatum migrates the aExpense application to the cloud. Reading this chapter will help you understand why Adatum wants to migrate some of its business applications to the cloud, and it describes some of its concerns.

“Getting to the Cloud” describes the first steps that Adatum takes in migrating the aExpense application. Adatum’s goal here is simply to get the application working in the cloud, but this includes “big” issues, such as security and storage.

“How Much Will It Cost?” introduces a basic cost model for the aExpense application running on Windows Azure and calculates the estimated annual running costs for the application. This chapter is optional. You don’t need to read it before you go on to the following scenarios.

“Automating Deployment and Using Windows Azure Storage” describes how Adatum uses PowerShell scripts and the Microsoft Build Engine (MSBuild) to automate deploying aExpense to Windows Azure. It also describes how Adatum switches from using SQL Azure to Windows Azure Table Storage in the aExpense application and discusses the differences between the two storage models.

“Uploading Images and Adding a Worker Role” describes adding a worker role to the aExpense application and shows how aExpense uses Windows Azure Blob Storage for storing scanned images.

“Application Life Cycle Management for Windows Azure Applications” discusses how to manage developing, testing, and deploying Windows Azure applications. This chapter is optional. You don’t need to read it before you go on to the last scenario.

“Adding More Tasks and Tuning the Application” shows how Adatum adds more tasks to the worker role in the aExpense application. In this phase, Adatum also evaluates the results of performance testing the application and makes some changes based on the results.

The companion samples

The samples illustrate all scenarios covered in the book. They provide a “single box” experience with minimal infrastructure requirements.

Click here to download the guidance

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Windows Azure Reference Application released to MSDN Code Gallery

Technology

13 Aug 2009

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Project Riviera is a comprehensive code sample to demonstrate how to develop multi-tenant highly-scalable line-of-business application on Windows Azure Platform, built by a cloud ISV partner, Cumulux.

Cumulux is a Microsoft partner who’s built their business around delivering solutions that leverage cloud computing and are keenly interested in making Azure their primary platform for delivering custom solutions for customers.

The reference application been published to the MSDN code gallery at http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/riviera. You can also see a brief video, architectural slides and related material here (http://cumulux.com/riviera.html)

The main tenants of Azure demonstrated by Riviera Include:

Federated Security (using custom STS, .NET Access Control Service and Windows Live ID)
Multi Tenancy (On demand provisioning, Tenant Management, extensible metadata)
Extensibility (using Silverlight 3, Workflow)
Scalability (using Azure Queues , Async patterns)
Flexible SLAs (using SQL Azure / Azure storage partitioning)

Head over to the MSDN Code Galleryand check this solution out. It’s a great showcase of what can be done on the Windows Azure Platform.

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Azure Services Training Kit – April Update – Released

Technology

9 Apr 2009

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The April Update of the Azure Services Training Kit has released and is ready for download. Below is a brief overview (taken from the download site) of what’s included in the latest release.

Overview
The Azure Services Training Kit includes a comprehensive set of technical content including hands-on labs, presentations, and demos that are designed to help you learn how to use the Azure Services Platform. The April release includes the following updates: