#Azure Action – Weekly Newsletter – 4th February 2011

Local Overview

• Brisbane city council picks Azure - the first {public} Australian public sector customer
• Local Microsoft SDC team and partners launched a second QLD Government Windows Azure site to help with managing offers of assistance in the cyclone aftermath.

  Readiness & Resources

Reading:

• Windows Azure
  • AzureSamples.com is a new web site designed to help you discover Windows Azure samples more readily
  • Setting Up Performance Counters In Your Azure Web and Worker Roles
  • How Azure Storage Handles Updating BLOBs
• SQL Azure
  • Final Comments on “Microsoft SQL Azure- Enterprise Application Development”(2010) by PACKT

Watch:

• MSDN Webcast: Windows Azure Boot Camp: Connecting with AppFabric (Level 200)

Case Study

• Austrailan ISV Kelly Street Digital moves from Amazon to Azure and saves $4,200 a month.
• Customer Spotlight: T-Mobile USA and Xerox Adopt the Windows Azure Platform in the Development of Key Applications

Tools:

• SQL Azure TCO Calculator - compare the cost of SQL Azure databases to other alternatives
• Web based Windows Azure storage Management tool (watch for password caching):*thanks to Tom Hollander for link

Introduction

• Understanding Windows Azure

Guidance:

Walkthrough:

• How to publish a Silverlight application to Windows Azure

Design

• Windows Azure Capacity Assessment

In the news:

General news:

• China building a city for cloud computing

“The entire complex will initially cover some 646,000 square feet, according to IBM, which is collaborating with a Chinese company to build it.

• David Chappell – What is PaaS?

  "give a PaaS platform an app, and it runs that app.” – doesn’t it?

• 'Cloud stack - is IaaS becoming obsolete?'

“pure IaaS is largely the domain of the technical folks“

Microsoft

• 10 Telling Tidbits From Microsoft's 10-Q -- InformationWeek

Windows Azure

• Windows Azure officially 1 year old

• Windows Azure Extra Small Instances Now Available As Public Beta

• Windows Azure Platform Training Kit and Course, January 2011 Update

Events:

Local:

• Cloud Computing Forum – Run by Orion VM (Sheng Yeo) First Friday in March – details coming soon

Webinar:

• DevelopMentor: SQL Azure

Community:

Like Azure?

Become a fan: www.facebook.com/windowsazure (Azure Facebook Toolkit)

Want answers? See the forums

Recorded but not yet publishe: CloudCast - an audio series featuring myself, Rab Thynne, Tom Hollander and Michael Rosic

Coming in March: Azure Meetups!

January/February community web cast boot camps

• 02/07: MSDN Webcast: Azure Boot Camp: Connecting with AppFabric
• 02/14: MSDN Webcast: Azure Boot Camp: Cloud Computing Scenarios

Questions

This week a few basic questions answered on the Windows Azure App Fabric Access Control Service (ACS)?

Q: What are the key components of the ACS?

• A Management Portal - a user interface that you can use to create and manage
• A Management Service - a programmatic interface to allow consumer to interact with ACS resources
• A Token-Exchange Endpoint - issues security tokens
• SDK - Tools and Samples to manage access to ACS

Q: I prefer to learn by watching. What videos are there?

A: Some examples here:

• Video: What is the Access Control Service? (V1)

• Video: What’s Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service (ACS) v2?
• Video: What Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service (ACS) v2 Can Do For Me?
• Video: Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service (ACS) v2 Key Components and Architecture
• Video (~3 min): Windows Azure AppFabric ACS v2 Prerequisites
• Webcast: Securing Web Resources Using Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control

Q: I'm keen to get started. Where can I learn how to implement an Access Controlled Service?

A: Channel 9 - Getting Started with ACS

Q: Can I use the ACS with existing on-premise applications?

A: Yes. For example Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Q: How does ACS deal with the issue of threat management?

A: Read Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service (ACS) v2 – Threats & Countermeasures

Q: How much does ACS cost?

A: As of late last year the cost per 100,000 transactions was roughly 2 USD. See pricing

Q: What's coming in ACS 2.0?

A: In addition to authentication by other security providers,. each of the key components of ACS have been upgraded and setup and interactions made easier.

More questions? Go to the Windows Azure AppFabric CTP Forum