Introducing: Windows Azure

Windows Azure, codenamed “Red Dog” is a cloud services operating system that serves as the development, service hosting and service management environment for the Azure Services Platform. It was launched by Microsoft in 2008. It is currently in Community Technology Preview. Commercial availability for Windows Azure will likely be at the end of calendar year 2009.

Google and Amazon have their infrastructure already setup for the cloud computing software therefore Microsoft also jumping on the bandwagon. The new operating system provides developers with on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and manages Web applications on the Internet through Microsoft data centers.

Windows Azure is an open platform that will support both Microsoft and non-Microsoft languages and environments. Developers can use their existing Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 expertise to build applications and services on Windows Azure. It supports popular standards and protocols including SOAP, REST, XML, and PHP. Windows Azure also welcomes third party tools and languages such as Eclipse, Ruby, PHP, and Python.

Uses:

• It can add Web service capabilities to existing packaged applications
• With minimal on-premises resources, developers can build, modify, and distribute applications to the Web
• They can create, test, debug, and distribute Web services quickly and inexpensively
• Reduce costs of building and extending on-premises resources
• Reduce the effort and costs of IT management

Azure Services Platform

Azure Services Platform is an application platform in the cloud that allows applications to be hosted and run at Microsoft datacenters. It provides an operating system and a set of developer services that can be used individually or together. The platform’s open architecture gives developers the choice to build web applications, applications running on connected devices, PCs, servers, or hybrid solutions offering the best of online and on-premises.

Other Azure Services

Live Services: These Services are a set of building blocks within the Platform for handling user data and application resources. It provides developers with an easy on-ramp to build rich social applications and experiences, across a range of digital devices that can connect with one of the largest audiences on the Web.

Microsoft SQL Services: These services can store and retrieve structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data. It provides Web services that enable relational queries, search, and data synchronization with mobile users, remote offices and business partners.

Microsoft .NET Services: These services include access control to help secure your applications, a service bus for communicating across applications and hosted workflow execution.

Microsoft SharePoint Services & Dynamics CRM Services: With the flexibility to use familiar developer tools like Visual Studio, developers will be able to rapidly build applications that utilize SharePoint and CRM capabilities as developer services for their own applications.

Benefits from the Azure Services Platform

As the platform offers the greatest flexibility, choice, and control in reaching users and customers while using existing skills, it also help developers easily create applications for the web and connected devices.

Easy way to the cloud: Currently developers in worldwide are using the .NET Framework and the Visual Studio development environment. Now with the new operating system they can utilize those same skills to create cloud-enabled applications that can be written, tested, and deployed all from Visual Studio. In the near future developers will be able to deploy applications written on Rubyon Rails and Python as well.

Enable quick results: the Service’s applications are very fast and the changes could be made quickly and without downtime. Therefore it will be an ideal platform for affordably experimenting and trying new ideas.

New Opportunities: it enables developers to create cloud based web, mobile, or hybrid-applications combined with Live Services, which has the ability to reach over 400 million live users, new opportunities exist to interact and reach users in new ways.

*) Amarpreet97