< Confessions of .NET Junkie Eric Golpe />

Windows Azure for MSDN Premium Subscribers & BizSpark Members

ericgol — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:37:22 GMT

Starting January 4 th , MSDN Premium subscribers and BizSpark members in 21 countries can sign up for Windows Azure Platform benefits. Previously, we communicated that the Azure benefit usage for subscribers would be limited to development and testing....(read more)

Cool Developer Portal changes and Windows Azure CDN details!!!

ericgol — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:04:50 GMT

Our changes for the Azure Development Portal have gone live .. this will be supporting our commercial release at PDC on Nov. 16th The new features in this release are the following: · CDN support · Custom domains · Cert management & Configuration...(read more)

.NET Services November CTP Released

ericgol — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT

The November CTP of Microsoft .NET Services has released today, and you can get it from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/developers/dotnetservices/ . The latest .NET Services CTP includes some key design changes announced previously to...(read more)

Our Azure Portal gets a facelift.

ericgol — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:21:56 GMT

If you haven’t stopped by in awhile, you may notice our cloud computing Windows Azure Platform portal site has received a facelift. It now has a more intuitive UI, with expanded sections: Check it out and let us know what you think. Have fun! Eri...(read more)

Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 now available to MSDN Subscribers. :)

ericgol — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:26:56 GMT

Visual Studio has been the development backbone for any Microsoft enabled developer. Now, the latest and greatest incarnation of Visual Studio is out for the engineering carnage to ensue. (Architorture anyone?) With Beta 2 we set out to increase...(read more)

30 Days until Commercial Launch of Windows Azure (oh and some light changes here and there.. )

ericgol — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:11:09 GMT

That’s right, 30 more days until the PDC 2009 conference in Los Angeles. (microsoftpdc.com) We’ve been hunkering down and gearing up for what will be an amazing launch, and some truly outstanding evidence of what the Windows Azure Platform can do. I think...(read more)

Top 5 Reasons to Encourage Your Friends and Family to Move to Windows 7

ericgol — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:16:00 GMT

You help people every day at work make the most out of your company’s IT resources. You’ve got the leading-edge knowledge to help your company understand how important it is to consider the move to Windows 7. But what about your friends and family? We...(read more)

Under-the-Hood of Windows Azure.

ericgol — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:22:00 GMT

I’ve had a bunch of folks asking me lately on how our Windows Azure platform works “under-the-hood” (for example, the fabric controller) and about data center security. If your interested in either, there are two publically available resources which...(read more)

Just Released: Two additional Windows Azure compute features.

ericgol — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:19:54 GMT

Yes, that’s right, we’ve gone ahead and enabled two very cool and sought after features today: In-Place Upgrade and the Service Management APIs. In-Place Upgrade enables you to incrementally roll a new version of your service over the existing...(read more)

It’s all about Data

ericgol — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:51:00 GMT

o Data centers we have built from the ground up: Those are Quincy, Washington and San Antonio, Texas. o Data centers currently under construction: Those are Dublin, Ireland and Chicago, Illinois. · How we choose future data center locations: When choosing...(read more)

Online Safety and Security – Resources and Reminders

ericgol — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:29:00 GMT

Online safety and protection from Internet fraud continue to be top concerns worldwide as individuals face new challenges in a “Web 2.0” world. To address these concerns, we’ve produced a new set of online safety materials and revamped our online safety...(read more)

Less than 75 days left until Commerical Launch of Windows Azure at PDC 2009

ericgol — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:55:00 GMT

Zero Wait for Windows Azure Tokens

Now when you sign into Connect for Windows Azure, you can obtain a token for Windows Azure without ANY wait. Tokens are issued immediately for Windows Azure! Note: You do not need tokens for .Net Services, however SQL Azure still have a short wait while you are being on-boarded.

Windows Azure Platform Training Kit August Update

In addition to new and updated Windows Azure and .NET Services material, there is a host of new content for SQL Azure in this release of the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit (formerly Azure Services Training Kit). Download the training kit from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=130354

New Channel 9 Videos on Azure

As we move towards commercial availability at PDC 2009, the Evangelism team has started to release the next round of training & readiness materials onto Channel 9. The following screencasts and videos are available:

Ø What is Windows Azure - http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/dunnry/What-is-Windows-Azure/

Ø Windows Azure Storage Overview - http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/dunnry/Windows-Azure-Storage-Overview/

Ø Deploying Applications on Windows Azure - http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/dunnry/Deploying-Applications-on-Windows-Azure/

Ø Doug Hauger: Insider the Windows Azure Platform Business Model - http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Charles/Doug-Hauger-Inside-the-Windows-Azure-Platform-Business-Model/

Make sure you visit and bookmark http://channel9.msdn.com/azure/ to get started on your journey.

Interested in our Data Centers?

Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and to manage web applications in Microsoft data centers. Understanding our data centers a bit better will give you more information on our Defense-In-Depth security and global “smart-growth” strategy. You can find out much more, including downloads of key security and relevant materials, here at the Global Foundation Services site.

The Microsoft Data Center Strategy

Our strategy is focused on smart growth, measurable efficiency and global trust.

· Smart Growth: Smart growth means judiciously adding data centers and capacity within those data centers when and where we need them based on the demands of the customers of our online services. One of the ways we do this is by using new technology that enables us to scale quickly as needed. The technology we’re focused on for flexible growth right now is containers.

· Measurable Efficiency: When you’re managing an infrastructure of hundreds of thousands of servers it is essential that you run it efficiently. The first thing you need to do in this regard is to constantly measure, and then with that data make sure you make the right power and performance tradeoffs as you focus on uptime, availability, performance, and power usage. Everything has to be manageable – from the supply chain to the servers to the network -- and it has to be built to operate with great processes every day. Furthermore, you need to apply technology for efficiency both in architecting services to run efficiently and in applying breakthrough technologies such as virtualization.

· Global Trust: When customers think about trust, they tend to think security and privacy. But Microsoft thinks of trust more broadly: Our goal is to keep our customers’ data and our sites secure from attack and also safeguard our customers’ personally identifiable information. We must be available and reliable when customers need us, providing performance they can count on. And we need to deliver our products in the language they want, with special market considerations when appropriate – (e.g. mobile).

If you’re in the USA, have a great Labor Day Weekend!

-Eric

Microsoft Brings Two More Mega Data Centers Online in July

ericgol — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:31:00 GMT

For the full info, let me redirect you here: http://tinyurl.com/mgw4ud This is pretty cool stuff.

Also cool, check out David Lemphers blog post on how to save Word docs to Windows Azure storage, and pull them back out, complete with code. Now that rocks pretty hard. :)

I've been quite busy lately with the Windows Azure Technical Adoption Program customers, and working with apprentices internally who are the newest de-facto Windows Azure experts to help support our TAP customers.

Mark Kottke and I are very happy that Patrick Butler Monterde now has joined our Windows Azure TAP team as yet another TAP Lead.

There's much more coming about Azure on my blog, so stay tuned if your interested.

-E-

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 - Gold Masters ship!!

ericgol — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:45:00 GMT

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 have been released to manufacturers. Today we’ve reached a significant milestone in delivering Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to manufacturing – to our OEM partners to get their PCs ready, to our software development partners to test their new apps on Windows 7, and to IHVs to ready their new hardware.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 represent incredible opportunities for partners and for the industry overall. We built Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with our partners, and their confidence in the products today reflect this deep collaboration. They are excited about the value the products will bring to customers of all types and sizes

Consumer and corporate excitement for Windows 7 continues to build:

Consumers: We designed Windows 7 to be more reliable, more responsive, and to make the things consumers do every day easier.
Enterprises: Windows 7 works the way businesses want. It makes users productive anywhere, delivers enhanced security and control to reduce risk, and streamlines PC manageability to reduce costs.
Small-Medium Businesses: Windows 7 is the best operating system for work and home. Windows 7 Professional works the way customers want, enables customers to get more done and safeguards customers’ work.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Customers: Windows Server 2008 R2 builds on the award-winning foundation of Windows Server 2008, expanding existing technology and adding new innovations that enable customers to quickly save money and be more efficient today and more effective tomorrow. New virtualization tools, Web resources, management enhancements, and exciting Windows 7 integration help customers increase the reliability, flexibility and efficiency of their server infrastructures.

Many customers and partners have been eager to test out beta and RC versions of Windows Server 2008 R2 to see for themselves the benefits they can look forward to once R2 becomes widely available. We’ve seen over 300,000 downloads already for Windows Server 2008 R2 beta/RC.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 together:

Businesses: Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 work together to help reduce the cost and complexity for businesses. They make users more productive by automating everyday tasks, delivering enhanced security, and streamlining manageability.
Enterprises: As always, customers with existing enterprise Volume Licensing agreements will get first access to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: Windows 7 code will be available for Volume Licensing download within the next few weeks, with Windows Server 2008 R2 code available during the second half of August.

Windows Azure Tools and SDK July Release Now Live!

ericgol — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:44:00 GMT

The Windows Azure Platform has just released an updated SDK and Tools package.
You can find both available as follows:

Tools: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=8d75d4f7-77a4-4adf-bce8-1b10608574bb

SDK: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=aa40f3e2-afc5-484d-b4e9-6a5227e73590

New in the July 2009 CTP SDK

The Windows Azure SDK now supports developing and deploying services containing multiple web and worker roles.
The new PowershellRole sample hosts the Powershell runtime within a Windows Azure role

New in the July 2009 Windows Azure Tools

New project creation UI
Support for multiple web and worker roles.

Something to note, "Windows Azure", from a purist point-of-view, is NOT the Windows Azure Platform.
We have quite a few customers and partners who (perhaps rightfully) appear to be confused when you say "Windows Azure" is not "Windows Azure Platform" (formerly "Azure Services Platform")

What is the Windows Azure Platform?

The Windows Azure Platform is an internet-scale cloud computing services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers. The Windows Azure Platform, which provides a range of functionality to build applications that span from consumer Web to enterprise scenarios, includes a cloud services operating system and a set of developer services. Windows Azure, Microsoft SQL Azure and Microsoft .NET Services are the key components of the Windows Azure Platform.

What is Windows Azure?

Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute and storage to host, scale and manage Web applications on the Internet through Microsoft data centers.

What is SQL Azure?

Recently, Microsoft announced a branding change for SQL Services and SQL Data Services. The new names for these services are Microsoft SQL Azure (formerly SQL Services) and SQL Azure Database (formerly SQL Data Services). This is only a branding change and does not reflect any changes in the vision and strategy. Microsoft SQL Azure will continue to deliver on Microsoft’s Data Platform vision of extending the SQL Server capabilities in cloud as web-based services. SQL Azure will deliver a rich set of integrated services for relational databases; reporting; and analytics and data synchronization with mobile users, remote offices and business partners. SQL Azure Database is currently available as a Community Technology Preview (CTP) service. Other services will be available in the future.

What are the .NET Services?

Microsoft .NET Services are a suite of web-based developer services that make it easier for Windows Azure applications and SQL Azure databases to connect and interoperate securely with existing software assets. .NET Services run on the Windows Azure platform, and provide a Service Bus and an Access Control Service for customers with the need to integrate cloud services with on-premises systems, or to perform business-to-business collaboration.

The Service Bus service enables secure, loosely-coupled connectivity between services and applications behind firewall or network boundaries, using a variety of communication patterns. The Access Control service provides an enterprise-class mechanism for performing federated access control authorization as a web service across organizations and protocols.

Look forward to hearing from you Cloud Computing folks on what you like/dislike about Windows Azure, and how you can see us making it better !!

-Eric