I believe that the best way to learn is to learn from each other, so I’m always on the search for stories of Canadian developers who have either built new applications using Windows Azure services or have migrated existing applications to Windows Azure. This is the story of Frozen Mountain and WebSync On-Demand.

Points of Interest

  • [00:29] Looking underneath the covers of WebSync
  • [01:30] Using Windows Azure Table Storage and SQL (Azure) Databases
  • [02:00] Using Windows Azure (Local) Caching over other mechanisms
  • [02:34] Using Web and Worker roles
  • [03:00] Business considerations of migrating from a private data center to Windows Azure
  • [04:19] Technical considerations of migrating from a private data center to Windows Azure
  • [04:55] Time to market surprises
  • [05:35] The development ramp up to today’s Windows Azure and what’s different from Windows Azure of the past
  • [06:20] Developer ramp up to developing with Windows Azure
  • [07:20] Developer training for Windows Azure
  • [08:10] Advice for the developer contemplating using Windows Azure
  • [08:43] Data in the Cloud: Privacy and Security concerns
  • [09:24] Relying on Microsoft Support alleviates worries for the business and developers
  • [11:09] Comparing and contrasting Windows Azure with other cloud providers
  • [12:05] Preferring Windows Azure’s Platform-as-a-Service
  • [12:52] Platform-as-a-Service as a constraint on the solution

Architecture

  • Cloud Services host the application. The web application is hosted exclusively in web roles.
  • SQL Databases serve as the standard backend storage provider and broker for real-time messages.
  • Windows Azure Caching, via a experimental backend storage provider, brokers messages in real-time.

FROZEN MOUNTAIN SOFTWARE (from Frozen Mountain.com)

FrozenMountain_LogoFrozen Mountain is an experienced provider of innovative solutions to common business problems using the latest in web technology. We enable customers to stay on the forefront of web-based innovation, while minimizing their risk and development costs. We offer an assortment of products, services, and domain expertise, from pre-built software packages to hosted services to customized application development. We develop our products with an "ear-to-the-ground" approach to ensure that we are providing solutions that are relevant and effective in meeting the business needs of an evolving web environment. We work very closely with our clients, helping them to establish an understanding of their own needs and how their requirements can be realized in a modern web-oriented architecture (WOA). This approach simultaneously gives users the rich internet experience they have come to demand and provides clients with a maintainable, extensible, and therefore cost-effective, solution.

ANTON VENEMA

antonAs the technical visionary, Anton is responsible for ensuring that Frozen Mountain's products and services exceed the needs of today and predict the needs of tomorrow. His technological intuition, vast knowledge base, and extensive academic background provide a strong foundation upon which Frozen Mountain's innovation can thrive.

Anton joined Frozen Mountain after many years of working as a freelance technical consultant for numerous companies, including Siemens and the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science. His professional career in developing web-based applications started in high school before any formal training. He now holds a joint degree in Computing Science and Linguistics, with a focus in statistical algorithms and computational linguistics. He has worked in the field for over 9 years.

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