You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'Azure' tag.
My good friend and colleague, David Chou (Microsoft Architect Evangelist) was interviewed recently by Jeremy Geelan at Sys-Con Media on the topic of Cloud Computing.
While acknowledging that lots of work is currently being done to differentiate and integrate private and public cloud solutions, David believes that Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) is the area of Cloud Computing that will make its impact most noticeably in 2010 – especially for startups, and small-medium sized businesses.
You can find the interview here.
Today, at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference 2009, we announced the business and partner model for the Windows Azure platform including service level agreements and support programs.
The Windows Azure platform, which includes a cloud services operating system – Windows Azure, a Web-based relational database in Microsoft SQL Azure (formerly SQL Services), as well as connectivity and interoperability services with .NET Services. Today, we announced a consumption-based pricing model, allowing partners and customers to pay only for the services that they consume. Here is a summary of that pricing:
Windows Azure:
- Compute @ $0.12 / hour
- Storage @ $0.15 / GB stored
- Storage Transactions @ $0.01 / 10K
SQL Azure:
- Web Edition – Up to 1GB relational database @ $9.99
- Business Edition – Up to 10GB relational database @ $99.99
.NET Services:
- Messages @ $0.15/100K message operations, including Service Bus messages and Access Control tokens
Bandwidth across all three services will be charged at $0.10 in / $0.15 out / GB.
Additionally, the Windows Azure blog outlined an enterprise-class guarantee backed by a service-level agreement that covers service uptime, connectivity, and data availability:
“For compute, we guarantee that when you deploy two or more role instances in different fault and upgrade domains your Internet facing roles will have external connectivity at least 99.95% of the time. Additionally, we will monitor all of your individual role instances and detect within two minutes when a role instance’s process is not running and initiate corrective action. For storage, we guarantee that at least 99.9% of the time we will successfully process correctly formatted requests that we receive to add, update, read and delete data. We also guarantee that your storage accounts will have connectivity to our Internet gateway.”
Today, we also announced that Windows Azure, SQL Azure, and .NET Services will be commercially available at the Professional Developers Conference 2009, which goes on between November 17 and 19, 2009.
I have written about cloud computing and specifically Azure Services Platform several times in the past. As we approach the market release of Azure Services Platform (Microsoft’s Windows cloud platform as a service) I thought it might be a good time to step back and write about the business value of cloud computing.
Why Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is the new computing platform shift. The cloud is really just a metaphor for the Internet and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it runs on. It is a style of computing in which users (and developers) access technology-enabled services from the Internet without the knowledge of, or control over the technology infrastructure that supports these services. Its built on technology, but it really comes down to a new operational model (more about that below).
Enterprises are interested in Cloud computing because it comes with several potential benefits. The Pay-As-You-Use consumption model can now be applied to IT – to both the hardware (IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service) and, perhaps even more interestingly, to the business applications themselves(SaaS – Software as a Service & PaaS – Platform as a Service). Cloud computing transfers the traditional capital expenditure (CapEx) model common in data centers today to an operational expenditure (OpEx) model. Cloud Services like Azure Services Platform and Microsoft Online Services allow CIOs and CFOs to control costs more effectively through these cloud computing service offerings.
Additionally, for business software ISVs (Independent Software Vendor), Cloud computing is a potential new distribution channel for their applications. Building business software for the cloud allows them to hook into new business models, like subscription, transaction or even ad-based revenue models. It is clear that the concept of cloud computing is gaining traction and provides unique benefits. The flexibility of an access-anywhere, highly scalable, pay-as-you-go computing model has benefits for both vendors and clients.
With the Azure Services Platform, businesses are enabled to develop and deploy critical and non-critical applications with a higher performance/price ratio by running them on Microsoft’s platform data centers on a pay–as-you-go basis. Whether you are building new applications, augmenting / cloud enabling existing systems, or connecting with trading partners, you can take advantage of the Azure Services Platform to do it quickly, inexpensively, and across the Web and a range of connected devices. For ISVs, they can take advantage of the Azure Services Platform to deliver software as a service without having to maintain data centers or build new capabilities on existing investments in on-premises applications, while leveraging the same Microsoft development tools and technologies they are familiar with.
CFOs will care about Cloud Computing and Azure Services Platform.
Enterprises have grown increasingly comfortable with Pay-As-You-Use methods of consuming business and computer services. Decisions to go this route are often made (or greatly influenced) by the CFO, not the CIO, and are largely based on cost control and the ability to translate CapEx into OpEx that look better on a balance sheet.
The ability to pay for services based on usage, and for the provision of those services to be very scalable (‘elastic’) so as to increase and decrease with that usage, ensures minimal waste and redundancy. Also, the ability to scale in support of new product and service offerings or geographic expansion provides “cash-flow-friendly” ways to increase resource availability. This ability to commission additional capacity without significant capital outlay is particularly attractive to CFOs and especially in difficult economic conditions where upfront funding is harder to obtain.
The ability to apply Cloud economics to core enterprise applications provides new ways for CFOs and CIOs to optimize and boost the cost efficiency of IT service delivery.
Cloud Computing is an Operational Model
What makes cloud computing cloud computing is the fact that the physical resources used are operated to deliver abstracted IT resources “on-demand,” at scale, and usually in a multi-tenant environment. It is how you use the technologies involved that matters most. For the most part, cloud computing uses the same operating systems, management software, middleware, databases, server platforms, network cabling, storage arrays, and so on, that we have become familiar with in enterprise IT. Sure, Azure Services Platform, Google App Engine, Amazon EC2, and others, have different technologies and IP implemented, but in the end, its not significantly different than what enterprise IT is familiar with. Its the scale and elasticity, and the pay–as-you-go model that makes the difference. The combination of on-demand, at scale, in a multi-tenant infrastructure is the reason why cloud computing is disruptive today, rather than just another technology fad!
Azure Services Platform
Microsoft’s Azure Services Platform is an internet-scale cloud services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which provides an operating system and a set of developer services that can be used individually or together. Azure’s flexible and interoperable platform can be used to build new applications to run from the cloud or enhance existing applications with cloud-based capabilities. Azure offers a range of flexibility, control, and is an affordable solution for running Web-scale applications. The services reduce tedious and expensive infrastructure management and planning and are built with security and reliability in mind, along with the option of a pay-as-you-go model.
You can learn more here.
new CloudApp(), a US based developer challenge, was launched today. Its focus is to promote applications running on the Azure Services Platform. This contest will have three categories of winners for applications running on the Azure Services Platform:
- best .NET application,
- top PHP application, and,
- community winner
The winning submissions will:
- Be featured on www.azure.com as well as at major Microsoft events
- Be featured in a video interview on Channel 9 with the application author
- Winners will be announced at Structure 09
- Receive cash ($):
- .NET Applications Category winner: $5,000 Visa gift card
- PHP Applications Category winner: $5,000 Visa gift card
- Community winner: $2,500 Visa gift card
Contest dates?
How do I get started?
- Join BizSpark if you’re a startup or an entrepreneur, to get access to tools for development and test
- Register to join the contest
- Sign up for the Azure Services
- Download the SDKs and Tools
For more information see newCloudApp().com.
Recently, at Mix09 actually, there were a few important updates to the Windows Azure CTP (Community Technology Preview). Here are a few key updates:
- Fast CGI. Allows developers to deploy and run web applications written with 3rd party programming languages such as PHP.
- .Net Full Trust. Provides developers with a level of flexibility in Windows Azure that removes limitations on .NET Libraries which require full trust (including .NET Services).
- Geo-Location. Provides developers with the ability to specify a location for their applications and data to build responsive services with lower network latency as well as the capability to meet location-based regulatory and legal requirements.
Keep up with the Windows Azure blog.
The Azure Services Platform is a key part of Microsoft’s Services Platform. Here’s the first of a comprehensive set of HDI’s (“How Do I …?”) on the entire Azure Services Platform. See my previous Azure and Cloud related posts here for background.
Here are some of the HDI’s you will find there:
How Do I: Get Started Developing on Windows Azure?
How Do I: deploy a Windows Azure Application?
How Do I: Store Blobs in Windows Azure Storage?
How Do I: Leverage Queues in Windows Azure?
How Do I: Get Started with .NET Services?
How Do I: Get Started with the Live Framework?
Visit the Azure Services Platform Videos site on MSDN and subscribe so that you can be notified when new HDIs are posted!
The nature of software development is radically changing… Are you ready?
Microsoft is bringing the PDC (Professional Developers Conference held in Los Angeles in this last October) to you! For just $99, you’ll get the best of the PDC in your own backyard and hear all of the exciting announcements around the Azure Services Platform and Windows 7. Attend the event in San Francisco on 2/19!
Sessions include the latest developments in .NET, Silverlight, Surface, Parallel Programming, Live Mesh, and more. You can find more about the sessions here.
Register today so you can stay current in an ever-competitive job market, enhance your engineering skills and gain access to the next generation of tools and technology. The cost to attend is just $99. And, did we mention that attendees will get some cool giveaways?
Don’t miss this premier developer event. Visit www.MSDNDevCon.com to learn more and register today!
If you did not have the opportunity to attend the PDC, then the MDC is the place for you!
Earlier this week, I gave a talk at a Microsoft ProDev Partners Briefing at our Mountain View Campus. I have posted the slides to my SlideShare page and you can see them here.
Mike Manos, GM, Data Center Services at Microsoft has a great blog post on our vision for Generation 4 Modular Data Centers.
Mike shares our Generation 4 Modular Data Center plan and vision, and how it will be the foundation of our cloud (see Windows Azure post) data center infrastructure in the next five years. It is one of the most revolutionary changes to happen to data centers in the last 30 years.
Included you will find a very cool concept video that you can also find here or clicking below.
Last week, my team launched a new site for the West Region Strategy and Architecture Council Community.
In addition to the MSDN Architecture Center, you can find content for the Architect Council event at Microsoft’s Mountain View campus on Tuesday, November 18, 2008. The session was on the topic of Cloud Computing and Impact on Architecture (which I posted information and invitation for here).
I would like to thank everyone who joined us for the session, and sharing your feedback. You can find the slides on the site as well as links to blogs and other resources.
Thank you!
