Microsoft's Cloud Computing - Azure

Windows Azure – Cloud Services Operating System

Windows® Azure is a cloud services operating system that serves as the development, service hosting and service management environment for the Azure Services Platform. Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and manage 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. To build applications and services on Windows Azure, developers can use their existing Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2008 expertise. In addition, Windows Azure supports popular standards and protocols including SOAP, REST, XML, and PHP.

Use Windows Azure to:

1. Add Web service capabilities to existing packaged applications

2. Build, modify, and distribute applications to the Web with minimal on-premises resources

3. Perform services (large-volume storage, batch processing, intense or large-volume
computations, etc.) off premises

4. Create, test, debug, and distribute Web services quickly and inexpensively

5. Reduce costs of building and extending on-premises resources

6.Reduce the effort and costs of IT management

Windows Azure – Cloud Services PlatformAzure Services Platform is an application platform in the cloud that allows applications to be hosted and run at Microsoft datacenters. It provides a cloud operating system called WindowsAzure that serves as a runtime for the applications and provides a set of services that allows development, management and hosting of managed applications off-premises. All AzureServices and applications built using them run on top of Windows Azure.

The four Azure Services Platform components -

1. Windows Azure
2. .NET® Services
3. SQL® Services
4. Live® Services

The components above offer the following rich technical capabilities:

1. Windows Azure provides scalable computation and storage to user applications and to otherAzure Services Platform components.

2. .NET Services coordinate user login credentials across differing security schemes and offers distributed infrastructure services to cloud-based and local applications.

3. SQL Services provide data storage for applications running in the cloud and in corporate data centres.

4. Live Services allows users to coordinate data across all of their devices and selectively share data with friends and associates.

ref:

Windows Azure Platform -

• http://www.microsoft.com/azure/default.mspx
• http://www.microsoft.com/azure/windowsazure.mspx
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd163896.aspx

Microsoft Press ebooks - http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/ebooks

Building Cloud Apps with Microsoft Azure - 

• http://aka.ms/CloudApps_PDF
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_hC-3L4eq17YXVxdTJKd2xQYWM/view?usp=sharing_eid

Microsoft Azure Services Platform: Opening Up Cloud Computing - http://www.developerfusion.com/column/9537/microsoft-azure-services-platform-opening-up-cloud-computing/

High Level Digest On Windows Azure Services Platform - http://blogs.msdn.com/alikl/archive/2009/06/01/high-level-digest-on-windows-azure-services-platform.aspx

Azure Services Development Center - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/default.aspx

Introducing the Azure Services Platform ( download word document ) -http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/4/3/e43bb484-3b52-4fa8-a9f9-

Azure Services Platform ( download word document) -http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/8/7/087A3AE1-2880-4452-88DD-

Introduction to Azure Channel9 Video -
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Charles/Manuvir-Das-Introducing-Windows-Azure/

Windows Azure Channel9 Presentations -
http://channel9.msdn.com/tags/Windows+Azure/

Azure Channel9 Presentations - http://channel9.msdn.com/tags/Azure/