Windows Azure you choice and flexibility to move existing applications or develop new ones using the language and platform of their choice with announcements made today.  This means you can bring your server applications and run them on Windows Azure. ASP.NET, Java, and more. Without you having to make changes to your app.

Bill Lang, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Server and Cloud Division, has announced new features at Announcing New Windows Azure Services to Deliver “Hybrid Cloud”.

Microsoft announced a number of new services that will be available in preview on June 7, along with several updates to already existing Windows Azure services. Windows Azure is now easier to use, more flexible, open, and powerful.

New Services

New services include:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Capabilities

• Windows Azure Virtual Machines allow customers to build, manage, and scale applications using today’s existing application models, which enable them to take full advantage of the economics, scalability and functionality of the cloud.
• Windows Azure Virtual Network allows customers to provision and manage virtual private networks (VPNs) in Windows Azure as well as securely link these with on-premises IT infrastructure. With Virtual Network, IT administrators can extend on-premises networks into the cloud with control over network topology, including configuration of IP addresses, routing tables and security policies.

More New Features

• Windows Azure Preview Portal: Windows Azure now contains a single, holistic, integrated portal to help guide customers toward key tasks and integrated billing information.
• Windows Azure Web Sites enable developers to quickly and easily deploy web sites with support for multiple frameworks and popular open source applications including ASP.NET, PHP and Node.js, to a highly scalable cloud environment. With just a few clicks, developers and startups can take advantage of Windows Azure's global scale without having to worry about operations, servers or infrastructure.

Updates to Windows Azure Services

Updates to existing services, include:

• Windows Azure SQL Reporting is a secure, flexible and cost effective cloud-based service that provides reporting capabilities that enable the consumption of operational reports inside and outside the organization without requiring incremental investments in hardware, software or system management. 
• Interoperability Updates: Microsoft is making it easier for developers to create and deploy applications on Windows Azure in the languages and on the platforms of their choice by now providing libraries for Java and Python.
• Improved Developer Productivity: Windows Azure significantly improves DevOps with support for Visual Studio Team Foundation Services and an updated Windows Azure SDK.
• Improved Application Services: This release includes several updates to Windows Azure’s application services, including updates to Windows Azure Active Directory, the Content Delivery Network (CDN), distributed caching, and support for Media Services.

For More Information

See www.windowsazure.com for more information.

Also see Cloud Virtual Pressroom.

About Windows Azure

Windows Azure is an open and easy to use set of infrastructure and platform services to build and run applications in the cloud.

You can move existing applications or develop new ones using the languages and platforms of their choice with Windows Azure.

You can turn to Microsoft for their cloud computing needs because they can leverage a flexible, reliable platform in their own datacenter, one of Microsoft’s secure globally-distributed datacenters or a combination of both.

Bruce D. Kyle
Technical Evangelist | Microsoft Corporation