It’s been just over a week since Windows Azure announced the GA of Infrastructure Services , marking the beginning of a fully supported Infrastructure as a Service in Windows Azure, with SQL Server as a major component. Pre-installed SQL Server VMs are available for pay-per-hour usage in the...

The SQL Server Evaluation Edition is a great way to get a fully functional and free instance of SQL Server for learning and developing solutions. The edition has a built in expiry of 6 months from the time that you install it. I often install an Eval edition on a machine to set up a test or demo, and...

The SQL Pass Summit 2012, the largest yet, is in full swing. Here's a summary of the sessions this week on cloud infrastructure and SQLOS topics. Some of these were today, and you can catch the recordings. One more session takes place on Friday covering SQL Server solution patterns in Windows Azure VMs...