In an effort to make it easier for you to stay on top of the latest product releases, resources, tools and news around the Windows Azure platform, today, we’re excited to announce that the SQL Azure blog is moving into what will now be called the...

MSDN has created a Q&A article on Odata (Open Data Protocol). OData applies web technologies such as HTTP, Atom Publishing Protocol (AtomPub) and JSON to provide access to information from a variety of applications, services, and stores. As web development...

Cihan Biyikoglu has written an interesting article on database schema when working with Federations. “With federations, you take parts of your schema and scale it out. With each federation in the root database, a subset of objects are scaled...

Dinakar Nethi has written an interesting TechNet Article about how the Dynamic Management Views that are available in SQL Azure and how they can be used for troubleshooting purposes. Take a look and get a feel for how easy it is to use SQL Azure. Click...

This walkthrough shows how to use SQL Azure Data Sync to provide bi-directional synchronization and data-management capabilities with on-premises and cloud databases. The video covers both the benefits and features of SQL Azure and explains how businesses...

We’ve been receiving questions about top on-going trends with regards to SQL Azure surrounding SQL Server limitations, and the access capabilities of co-administrators. Fortunately, the answers to both of these questions have been addressed in a...

Steve Peschka wrote a great TechNet article a little while back about how to integrate SQL Azure services with Sharepoint 2010. He shares a few SQL Azure tips and tricks to get you more incorporated more quickly into new development projects. He provides...

This walkthrough explains how to easily create Line of Business (LOB) applications for the cloud by using Visual Studio LightSwitch and SQL Azure. The video highlights the benefits of Visual Studio LightSwitch and explains how you can quickly create powerful...

This video demonstrates how easy it is to extend, share, and integrate SQL Azure data with mobile and heterogeneous applications using other programming platforms via an OData service. The video shows how easy it is to expose data by creating...

This walkthrough demonstrates how easy it is to extend, share, and integrate SQL Azure data with Microsoft applications via an OData service. The video starts by reviewing the benefits of using SQL Azure, then goes on to show you how to enable cloud...

David Chappell recently completed a whitepaper on OData that I encourage you to take a look at. You can view it here , or download a PDF version. David does an outstanding job providing an overview of OData, the problems it solves, practical usage...

Cihan Biyikoglu, Senior Program Manager of SQL Azure, has posted information on the Microsoft SQL Azure Federations Product Evaluation Program. Nominations for the Microsoft SQL Azure Federations Product Evaluation Program are now open. To learn more...

TechEd wound to a close last Friday. Our engineering leaders put together some great demos and presentations that help developers take advantage of cloud data with SQL Azure, as well as preview what’s coming next on the roadmap. The blogosphere...

Real World SQL Azure: Interview with Kai Boo Lee, Business Development Director, aZaaS As part of the Real World SQL Azure series, we recently talked to Kai Boo Lee, Business Development Director at aZaaS , about using Microsoft SQL Azure and Windows...

Norm Judah, Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft Services, presented a Foundational Session at TechEd detailing examples of what is possible in the cloud this past week. The session covered four demos on 1) building a private cloud, 2) event based...

We’ve prepared a new how-to video which talks about basic architectural considerations when developing on SQL Azure. This walkthrough provides an overview that you can use to establish best practices and optimize your SQL Azure databases. Specifically...

Quentin Clark, Vice President for SQL Server, delivered a session after the TechEd keynote yesterday about the future of SQL Server for data and BI and moving towards the cloud in the upcoming “Denali” release. There was a great demo by...

We’ve created a new readiness video that introduces some of the features of SQL Azure Reporting and demonstrates the use of advanced analytical tools, such as using SQL Azure data with Excel and PowerPivot. Specifically, users will learn how to...

Announced earlier today at TechEd , there are several key updates to the SQL Azure service that I wanted to share with you. Zane Adam covered these at a high level on his blog this morning as well as talking about improvements in AppFabric. The theme...

TechEd is this week! As I wrote in my post on Friday, TechEd is May 16-19 in Atlanta. Unfortunately I am not there, I was at InterOp earlier this week in Vegas (I’ll send a recap of that in the next few days) and I’ll be sitting this one out...

TechNet has an interesting article on understanding query performance in SQL Azure. The article discusses how database administrators can track exactly what Transact-SQL statements are being submitted, and how the database returns those results and ....

TechEd is next week! May 16-19 to be exact, in Atlanta. Unfortunately I won’t be there - I was at InterOp earlier this week in Vegas (I’ll send a recap of that in the next few days) and I’ll be sitting this one out to catch up on some...

Selcin Turkarslan has written an in-depth TechNet wiki article about connection security considerations when using SQL Azure. The article is primarily concerned with writing secure connection strings for SQL Azure Database. I’d highly recommend...

This walkthrough discusses how businesses can take business intelligence to the cloud with SQL Azure. The video covers the benefits of SQL Azure—including the ability to establish business intelligence without adding hardware costs or IT overhead—and...

Evan Basalik has written a post which details the arrival of CSS SQL Azure Diagnostics (CSAD), developed by the our support team. The tool has been developed to shorten the data collection process when troubleshooting SQL Azure issues. You can point CSAD...