Archive notice: This article was originally published on October 28, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
“Windows Azure” is Microsoft’s new offering for hosting and managing cloud-based services. The Azure Services Platform was introduced today at the Professional Developers Conference 2008 (PDC, Los Angeles, USA) by Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect. Using a software-plus-services approach, the platform supports developers in creating new kinds of applications. These range from cloud computing to companies’ central data centers and open up new possibilities for using PCs, the internet, and telephones.
In his keynote, Ray Ozzie described how the platform combines cloud-based development capabilities with infrastructure services for storage, computing, and networking. All are hosted on servers located in Microsoft’s worldwide network of data centers. This allows developers to deploy applications for businesses and consumers in the cloud or in-house. A limited Community Technology Preview (CTP) of the Azure Services Platform is available for PDC attendees to test.
“Today marks a turning point for Microsoft and the developer community,” Ozzie said. “A package of new technologies offers expanded possibilities for web and business developers. The Azure Services Platform was designed from the ground up to ensure openness and interoperability. It is intended to change the way businesses operate and the way consumers obtain information and use the internet. Above all, it gives our customers the choice of deploying applications as cloud-based internet services or on servers in their own data centers, or combining both options.”
Enabling Cloud Development
With the flexible Azure Services Platform, developers can use their existing knowledge as well as established technologies and tools such as Microsoft .NET and Visual Studio, or numerous commercial and open-source tools. They access Azure services through various internet standards including HTTP, REST (Representational State Transfer), WS, and AtomPub. The main components of the Azure Services Platform are:
- Windows Azure for service hosting and management, as well as highly scalable storage, computing, and networking processes
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Microsoft SQL Services for numerous database services and reporting
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Microsoft .NET Services, which include service-based implementations of familiar .NET Framework concepts such as workflow and access control
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Live Services for consistent storage, sharing, and synchronization of documents, data, and information across PCs, phones, applications, and websites
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Microsoft SharePoint and Dynamics CRM Services for business information, collaboration, and rapid solution development in the cloud
Modern Infrastructure for Data Centers
A stable data center is required to provide online services. Last year, Microsoft opened a large data center in Quincy, Washington, USA. Additional centers are set to follow by the end of this year in San Antonio, Chicago, and Dublin, Ireland. Microsoft uses modern infrastructure technologies to deliver the services. These include the use of shipping containers as flexible and mobile enclosures for servers. This allows Microsoft to achieve ten times the density and substantial energy savings. The data centers manage email accounts, websites, instant messages, photos, videos, software, and search information for millions of users worldwide.
Lower Costs for Innovation
Together with virtualization and modeling, the new service technologies will offer significant benefits to corporate IT departments. They enable more dynamic applications with lower ongoing costs. Companies can therefore focus their investments on areas that differentiate their business activities, turning IT into a strategic asset.
Flexibility Through Software Plus Services
Microsoft’s service offerings also include Microsoft Online Services. These provide high-quality enterprise software as subscription solutions hosted by Microsoft and distributed by partners. Applications such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Dynamics CRM Online, Office Communications Online, and Live Meeting can be used as replacements for or supplements to locally installed software. This increases customers’ choices for their IT strategy.
Xtopia 08 and Technical Summit 2008
News and highlights from the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles will also be presented in Berlin at Xtopia and Technical Summit 2008. At Xtopia 08 on November 17 and 18, web developers, designers, and business decision-makers can learn the latest about the consumer web. At the subsequent Technical Summit on November 20 and 21, Microsoft Germany will present professional developers, software architects, and IT professionals with technical details about new products and services. Detailed information on future operating systems, “Oslo,” and cloud services will be presented in Germany for the first time.
Further Links:
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