MIX11 - Session Review - What’s New in the Windows Azure Platform
James Conard (Sr. Director – @jamescon)
What is the Windows Azure Platform?
- Provide the best and most comprehensive Platform as a Service offering for building, deploying, and running cloud applications
- Open & Flexible
- Using several technologies and not only the .NET Framework
- Leverage Existing Investments
- Use the known technologies and ways to develop that exist already in the market in order to reduce the difficulty of entering in the cloud
- Ready for next Generation apps
- Prepare for the next types of apps like mobile, and high available
Windows Azure Core Services
- Compute
- Scalable environment for running code
- Enables .NET, C++, PHP, Ruby, Python
- By default .NET Framework is installed but you can deploy the technology you’d like and use it
- Automate Service Management
- Abstract you from managing the infrastructure where your apps is running on
- Storage
- Scalable and highly available cloud storage
- Blobs, Tables, Queues, Drives
- REST APIs and several client libraries
- Database
- SQL Relational Database (SQL Azure)
- Use the same knowledge that exist in using SQL Server and make them available in the cloud
- Familiar programming model & Tools
- SQL Relational Database (SQL Azure)
Windows Azure Platform Roadmap
- October 2008
- Announced the Windows Azure Platform
- First CTP of Windows Azure Platform
- March 2009
- Announced SQL Azure Relational DB
- November 2009
- Updates Windows Azure CTP
- Announced VMRole, Project Sydney and Windows Azure Platform pricing and SLAs
- Enable FullTrust & PHP, Java etc.
- Project Dallas CTP
- February 2010
- Windows Azure Platform generally available
- June 2010
- Windows Azure Update
- .NET Framework 4
- OS versioning
- SQL Azure Update
- 50 GB databases
- Spatial data Support
- DAC support
- Windows Azure Update
- November 2010 – Big Release
- New Windows Azure Platform Management Portal
- Multiple Service Administrators (co-Admins)
- Remote Desktop
- Full IIS
- Web Roles previously using Hosted Web Core
- Only supported a single HTTP or HTTPs endpoing
- Web Roles now supporting Full IIS 7.0/7.5
- Enables new scenarios
- Multiple IIS websites
- Multiple virtual machines
- Configure IIS extensions
- Web Deploy for Rapid development
- Web Roles previously using Hosted Web Core
- Windows Server 2008 R2 & IIS 7.5
- Elevated Privileges
- Windows Azure Connect (CTP)
- Windows Azure Virtual Machine Role (Beta)
- Extra Small Instances
- Startup Tasks & Admin Mode
- Enables short, unattended setups on role startup
- Silent MSIs, COM components, Registry Keys, Configuring Windows Server Roles, etc
- Configuration Sample for startup tasks in the ServiceConfiguration.cscfg
- <WebRole name=”test”>
- <Startup>
- <Task commandline=”<commandToBeRunned>” executingContext=”limited|elevated” taskType=”simple|foreground|background”/>
- </Startup>
- <Startup>
- </WebRole>
- <WebRole name=”test”>
Windows Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN)
- Enabled from Windows Azure Platform Portal
- Integrated with Storage (Blob Storage)
- Recent Enhancements
- Delivery from Windows Azure Compute instances
- Https support
- CTP of Smooth Streaming – End of April 2011
Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service v 2.0 (ACS)
- Provides AuthN support using multiple identity providers
- Easily integrate Live ID, Facebook, Yahoo, Google and Active Directory
- Support for WS-Federation, WS-Trust, OpenID 2.0, OAuth 2.0
- Familiar & Consistent .NET Programming Model
- Use existing Windows Identity Foundations SDK & Assemblies
- REST-based Service Management API
- Integrate into your existing apps and control panels
- Now Available
- No charge during promotion period ending January 1st, 2012
- Low cost after the promotion: $1.99 per 100.000 transactions
Windows Azure AppFabric Caching
- Distributed in-memory cache for Windows Azure apps
- Integrated directly with the cache using .NET client library
- Session State Provider for Windows Azure applications
- Caching provided as a building block service
- Configure an AppFabric Namespace
- Choose your cache size
- Write code against that service
- Familiar & Consistent APIs
- Same APIs as Windows Service AppFabric
- Available commercially by the end of April
- Start using the CTP today at http://portal.appfabriclabs.com with no charge
- In the CTP only the Data Center of South Central US has the Caching Service
- supported cache sizes: 128 MB, 256MB
- After the end of April (commercial Availability) you’ll have it available in every data center with supported cache sizes from 128MB to 4GB
Cloud Data Services
- SQL Azure Reporting (Currently in a Private CTP)
- SQL Server Reporting provided as a Service
- Reports authored using existing tools (BIDS) and deployed to SQL Azure Reporting
- SQL Azure Data Sync
- Data synchronization provided as a Service
- Sync to/from SQL Azure Database
- Sync between SQL Server and SQL Azure
- Windows Azure DataMarket
- Information marketplace for ISVs and IWs that provide trusted public domain & premium commercial data
- Now commercially available
- Firstly announced as codename “Dallas”
Performance Matters
- The new Windows Azure Traffic Manager solved this problem
- Load Balancing across multiple Hosted Services
- Now Available in CTP
- Three scenarios that are currently in the CTP
- Performance
- Directs the user to the best / closest deployment
- Fault Tolerance
- Redirect Traffic to another deployment based on availability
- Round Robin
- Traffic routed to deployments based on a fixed ration
- Performance
- Also allow to keep a status of all your apps in order to understand how to rout the traffic
Windows Azure Platform Access
- Windows Azure Pass
- Free 30-Day access to the platform
- Includes:
- Compute: 3 small instances
- Storage: 3 GB + 250K transactions
- Data Transfer: 3GB in & 3GB out
- Database: 2x1GB Web Edition
- Signup: http://windowsazurepass.com
- Enter code: MIXABC
- Introductory Trial
- Available through September 30th, 2011
- Includes:
- Compute: 750 extra small hours + 25 small
- Storage: 20GB + 50K transactions
- Data Transfer: 20GB in & 20 GB out
- Database: 1 GB Web Edition (90 Days)
- Sign-up: http://windowsazure.com
- Note: Requires Credit Card Information but allows you to access CTP services
- Ultimate
- Compute: 1.500 hours of small instances
- Storage: 30 GB
- Transactions: 2M
- Bandwidth: 35 GB in / 35 GB out
- Databases: 5 GB Web Edition
- Premium
- Compute: 1.500 hours of extra-small instances
- Storage: 25 GB
- Transactions: 1M
- Bandwidth: 30 GB in / 30 GB out
- Databases: 1 GB Web Edition
- Professional
- Compute: 750 hours of extra-small instances
- Storage: 20 GB
- Transactions: 250K
- Bandwidth: 25 GB in / 25 GB out
- Databases: 1 GB Web Edition
Resources
- Windows Azure Platform Training Kit April 2011 Update (http://bit.ly/WATKApr11)
- Windows Azure Accelerator for Umbraco (http://bit.ly/WAAUmbraco)
- ACS Extensions for Umbraco (http://bit.ly/ACSUmbraco)
Interesting topics
- You can select which OSFamily you want to use by editing the ServiceConfiguration.cscfg file with the values:
- 1 – Windows Server 2008
- 2 – Windows Server 2008 R2
- Currently ASP.NET MVC 3 isn’t available on Windows Azure and so you need to install it using a Startup Task
- Release of some Extensions for ACS 2.0 that allow ACS to be plugged directly in Umbraco allowing it to configured without going to the Management Portal