John's Web Thoughts : Announcements

New Silverlight Application Debut's

johnel@microsoft.com — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 06:00:58 GMT

Just released, the latest in silverlight applications has been deployed on MediaCorp's Web Site. This site takes advantage of Rich Application technology through its use of MS AJAX Extensions and the Silverlight plugin.

WS 2008 is Out of Beta with WMS and IIS7 Media Pack!

johnel@microsoft.com — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 11:18:27 GMT

Well we have entered into the final stages of the development of out next platform for web solutions. Along with the server itself however a couple of add-ons have also been released. The first is Windows Media Services which provides the capability to stream video on demand. The second is the IIS7 Media Pack module that provides bit rate throttling for progressive video downloads.

Web, Standard, Data Center, and Enterprise editions of WS 2008 RC0 are now available for download along with Windows Media Services. I had the opportunity to configure a virtual environment showcasing the new caching capabilities of WMS and thought I would share a few of my experiences.

I started with the Idea of running WS Enterprise as my Origin Server and running the Web Server edition as the proxy. When you first install WS 2008, you will be prompted with the new management interface that makes configuration of role and feature specific functionality incredibly simple.

WMS is not available in the existing build, so the first thing you need to do is install the download OOB WMS module. Once that is done, when you select roles you will be presented with a selection to choose from (Note: the differences between the Web and Enterprise version). If you happen to select a role that has dependencies on other services, these will be added by default.

Enabling the caching functionality on the Web version could not be easier. You select the server you want to configure in our management interface, select the properties TAB, Select Cache/Proxy management, and Right click WMS Cache Proxy enable the functionality. You can then double click on the same place to get prompted with the configuration options as seen below. You can also go and do the same on the origin server to control aspects of the caching such expiry time and so on related to the individual publishing points.

Details on the configuration options available can be found in the help files so I will not go into that here but one thing to keep in mind is the way the proxy is expecting to get requests. Basically the scenario is that all streaming requests for content off the Origin server need to be routed to the IP of the caching server. This can be done through firewall configuration but if you are looking to do this in a virtual test environment the easiest way I have found is modify your LMHosts file to resolve requests to the origin server with the IP of the proxy server. Another point to keep in mind is that HTTP streaming (Only protocol supported by Silverlight!) is not enabled by default. You need to go into the Properties TAB for the server, select the control protocol and enable a specific open port.

Hope this helps in getting you started on using WMS in WS 2008!

John

Silverlight 1.0 Released!

johnel@microsoft.com — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:06:00 GMT

Scott Guthrie has just announced on his blog the release of Silverlight 1.0 and support for Linux. Expression Media Encoder has also been released.

John

Free Internet Hosting

johnel@microsoft.com — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:41:00 GMT

For those interested in experimenting with IIs7, take advantage of these free hosting offers available with Microsoft partners.

Web Analytics and Live ID

johnel@microsoft.com — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:28:00 GMT

Microsoft has recently announced two new free services that can greatly enhance your web site:

Windows Live ID and Gatineau.

Windows Live ID provides the ability to leverage the Live platform to provide authentication services to your web site to enable personalization and profiling. More details can be found from the Windows Live ID team's release announcement or the Live Development site. Gatineau is Microsoft's new analytics tool that combines the demographic data enabled through Live ID with web traffic analysis.

If you want to see an excellent comprehensive overview the web analytics industry, check out this 50 minute presentation by Avinash Kaushik.

VS 2008 Beta 2 Released!

johnel@microsoft.com — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 04:38:12 GMT

Check it out. The latest in our developer Tools.

Popfly Alpha Launch

johnel@microsoft.com — Wed, 23 May 2007 05:14:52 GMT

Since I joined MS last year, I have been amazed at the range of new services and technologies that are being released. The latest that I have discovered in a new platform for non programers to develop Web 2.0 Mashups. Previously known as "Springfield", it is now being branded under the name Popfly ( Who came up with that one?). Utilizing silverlight as a plaftorm this solution allows users to dynamically connect services in the cloud to build applications. Check out the video that decribes some of the features. Here are some pictures of the development environment.

Virtual Mix

johnel@microsoft.com — Thu, 03 May 2007 07:21:00 GMT

Mix sessions are now on line for viewing Check it out!For more exciting news from MIX07, including on-site interviews and videos featuring partner demos, be sure to check out http://www.visitmix.com/

Developer and Designer News for March

johnel@microsoft.com — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 04:24:00 GMT

Hello All,

I just thought I would summarize some of the recent things we have for developers and designers.

Events

Steve Ballmer is coming TO SINGAPORE May 21,22,23. Stay tuned for more details.

ReMix June 28, 29 The Singapore Event for Designers and Developers

March 29^th our Regular MSDN Connections evening focusing on Office Business Applications and Virtualization held at MS Offices starting at 7PM.

Quick event details:

Thurs 29 Mar 2007
7:00pm - 9:00pm (registration starts at 6:30)
NTUC Room 701, Level 7
One Marina Blvd - NTUC Center

Register at: melissa@techmexeventsasia.com or call 6550 8963

Product Releases

If you are not currently using the integrated Microsoft Development environment, visit our express home page to download free trial versions. Speaking of a development environment, a March CTP release is available on our latest IDE “ORCAS”. We also now have our latest tools for designers also available for trial download at our Expression website.