The Azure™ Services Platform (Azure) is an internet-scale cloud services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which provides an operating system and a set of developer services that can be used individually or together.  Azure’s flexible and interoperable platform can be used to build new applications to run from the cloud or enhance existing applications with cloud-based capabilities.  Its 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.

Some of the benefits that Azure provides include:

• Web & Social Applications - The Azure™ Services Platform provides web developers easy to use development tools and cloud infrastructure to build rich internet applications targeted for the browser and digital devices. Create socially aware solutions and connect with a network of over 460 million Live users.

• Great Developer Tools & A Unified Developer Experience – Any web developer can use the platform. Developers familiar with .NET and Visual Studio can use their existing skills to extend or create new cloud-based applications that dynamically scale. Applications written in PHP or Ruby can also run on and take advantage of the Azure infrastructure and services.

• Interoperability – Azure services use REST and SOAP web communications standards to interoperate with other platforms and services; run applications on any browser, create and expose your own services, or utilize the services regardless of platform or programming language.

• Composite Services - The Azure Services Platform allows developers to take advantage of one, all, or a combination of services.

• Software + Services - Author new applications or augment on-premises software with cloud services to create a new breed of rich internet-based solutions.  Microsoft refers to this as Software + Services.

• Economical - The Azure Services Platform reduces onsite infrastructure needs and allows developers to continue using skills they already know from familiar development tools, all leading to lower cost and faster time to market.

MIX09 Updates

At MIX09 there were a number of updates to The Azure Services Platform that affect two underlying components, Windows Azure and SQL Data Services (SDS).  In short, Windows Azure is the OS for the cloud from Microsoft and SDS offers relational data storage in the cloud and access to that data from cloud and client applications.

Windows Azure

Windows Azure is Microsoft’s platform for building and deploying cloud based applications, which provides customers with a service hosting and management environment for the Azure Services Platform.

Windows Azure enables customers to:

• Significantly reduce time spent managing hardware to focus on delivering applications which deliver compelling experiences and services.

• Release at a faster time-to-market and reduce operational complexity by automating service management to allow for deployment of a new application onto the Web within seconds.

• Reduce upfront hardware investment costs by providing a flexible environment where applications are hosted in Microsoft data centers capable of massive scaling.

There is an update to the Windows Azure CTP feature released at MIX09 which will allow developers to take advantage of:

• FastCGI: allows developers to deploy and run web applications written with 3rd party programming languages such as PHP. This provides developers using non-Microsoft languages the ability to take advantage of scalability on Windows Azure.

• .NET Full-Trust: provides developers with a level of flexibility in Windows Azure that removes limitations on .NET Libraries which require full trust (including .NET Services) .NET Full Trust, via spawning process and p/invoke, also allows developers to utilize existing investments in native code or legacy components that they will now be able to invoke on Windows Azure.

• Geo-Location: provides developers with the ability to specify a location for their applications and data to build responsive services with lower network latency as well as the capability to meet location-based regulatory and legal requirements. This feature will be available a few weeks after MIX 2009.

 
SQL Services

Microsoft SQL Services delivers on the vision of extending the SQL Server Data Platform capabilities to cloud web-based services. It enables customers to store, process and analyze all types of data - from structured, semi-structured, to unstructured.  SQL Data Services (SDS), the first service available within SQL Services, is the relational database. In the future, SQL Services will deliver a comprehensive set of integrated services such as search, reporting, analytics, data integration and data synchronization in the cloud.

SQL Data Services allows for the following:

• Enables existing applications to utilize existing skills, code, and development tools to access SDS as they already do for on-premises SQL Server.

• Enables Microsoft to accelerate the delivery of powerful relational database capabilities in SDS and to do so in a way that integrates seamlessly with existing tools, knowledge base, investments and data access components.

• Provides a cloud-based reliable, scalable, highly available distributed relational database service.

• Provides a cloud relational database service for Azure Services Platform, with other online services, or with existing on-premises software.

• Over time, additional features from the Microsoft data platform will be available in the Azure cloud.

Windows Azure SDK Download

Developers will be able to take advantage of the Windows Azure CTP feature updates via the Windows Azure SDK update which is now available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/azure/sdk.mspx

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