Site: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/ Link: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/rss.aspx
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 11/1/2011 2:22:01 PM
I’ve explained before that Windows Azure is a Platform as a Service - at its simplest, that means that you write software and Azure runs it for you. But what if you are a shop that normally buys “off the shelf” software, and the only software you write is an internal utility here and there - can you still use Windows Azure? Absolutely. Windows Azure is made up of several components, such as computing, storage and other objects you can call in code. And as such, some companies have extended soft ...
[ read more ]
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 10/31/2011 5:23:23 PM
This is a continuation of the books I challenged myself to read to help my career - one a month, for year. You can read my first book review here. The book I chose for October 2011 was: The Cloud of Unknowing, Anonymous: The role of faith in life. Once again, this is out of order, but the book came in from a hold at the library so I’ll do this one now. Why I chose this Book: This book is probably the most far afield for many of my readers – some folks don’t hold a faith, others have ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 10/25/2011 3:01:17 PM
I try to be as “real world” as possible in these blog entries, because you can get other kinds of documentation elsewhere. I do a lot of “Architectural Design Sessions” (ADS) with folks that are looking at Windows and SQL Azure to see if it fits their needs - which should be the *only* reason to consider a platform. My friend Bhanu from Alaska Airlines joined us here in Redmond for one such design session. They wanted to leverage Facebook, but not expose their entire network to that plat ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 10/18/2011 2:57:36 PM
Last week Microsoft announced several new offerings for “Big Data” - and since I’m a stickler for definitions, I wanted to make sure I understood what that really means. What is “Big Data”? What size hard drive is that? After all, my laptop has 1TB of storage - is my laptop “Big Data”? There are actually a few definitions for this term, most notably those involving the “Four V’s” Volume, Velocity, Variety and Variability. Others disagree with this definition. I tend to try and get things into t ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 10/4/2011 3:11:50 PM
One of the most natural development use-cases for the Windows Azure platform is with mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets and even embedded computers in cars and other devices. The reason this paradigm works so well is that most mobile devices are not as powerful as larger computers - they simply don’t have the room to power the device, keep it cool, and hold the components that they would like. So leveraging the computing power, data and networking capability from a massively distribu ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 9/20/2011 4:26:23 PM
I was asked recently how to query SQL Azure along with an on-premise data source. There are actually lots of ways to do this, but a quick and simple method is to use LINQ - or Language Integrated Query. There are always pro's and con's for any data access methods, but I'll show this one as an example, one I've used in other places. It's important to understand what you're doing, and why. Note that the key here is in three parts - the connections, the DataRelation object space within the .NET env ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 8/23/2011 3:34:21 PM
I have a lot of learning resources you can find here at my blog, but I wanted to point one out this morning. It's a Silverlight application called "Azure Design Patterns". You can find it at http://azuredesignpatterns.com/, and it's an interesting way of looking at concepts and patterns for Azure interactively. I use this quite often even in presentations to show definitions of terms, and to explain concepts within Azure. You can do the same when you're asked to explain a Platform as a Service ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 8/2/2011 2:24:50 PM
Current as of 08/01/2011 - Check the Resources listed below for more up-to-date information on this topic Background: Security for any computing platform involves three primary areas: Principals (users or programmatic access to an asset or other program) Securables (objects, data or programs that can be accessed) Channels (methods of access by Principals to Securables) On-premise systems normally use a central system to control security. In a Windows operating system-based envir ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 7/26/2011 1:56:08 PM
“Who is using Windows Azure? How are they doing it?” I get asked this all the time as I speak to our clients when we mention Windows or SQL Azure as a possible solutions to an architectural problem the company has. I completely understand the question. I’ve worked far longer outside of Microsoft than here, and one of my roles as a Systems Architect was to select solutions from a range of possibilities. When you’re faced with a decision like that, it saves a ton of time if you can find out where ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 7/19/2011 2:30:00 PM
When you declare and use storage in Windows Azure - specifically in a BLOB object - it’s just a grouping of storage. There are two types of BLOBs - Page and Block. To use storage, you need a storage account, which hold Containers, and then you put a BLOB object in the Container. You address that using the API, which in turn uses a REST call to access the data. So the URL that you are actually sending looks like this: http://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer/myblob Here are the p ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 7/12/2011 2:45:42 PM
My previous role at Microsoft was in the SQL Server team. I spent quite a bit of time there, and had some really great experiences. I was able to travel and speak as well as doing my “regular” job in the programming team, so I got to meet a lot of people. I also teach at the University of Washington, and see a lot of companies and students in that role. Last year I moved into the Windows and SQL Azure team, and from all of those sets of experiences I am now getting the same question quite freque ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 6/28/2011 6:18:19 PM
As part of my professional development, I’ve created a list of books to read throughout the year, starting in June of 2011. This a review of the first one, called Programming Windows Azure by Siriram Krishnan. You can find my entire list of books I’m reading for my career here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/06/07/head-in-the-clouds-eyes-on-the-books.aspx Why I Chose This Book: As part of my learning style, I try to read multiple books about a single subject. I’ve found t ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 6/21/2011 2:49:00 PM
The other day I was working with a client on an application they were changing to a hybrid architecture – some data on-premise and other data in SQL Azure and Windows Azure Blob storage. I had them make a couple of corrections - the first was that all communications to SQL Azure need to be encrypted. It’s a simple addition to the connection string, depending on the library you use. Which brought up another interesting point. They had been using something that looked like this, using ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 5/17/2011 1:58:17 PM
In an on-premise system, most of us start fulfilling business computing requirements by making decisions around buy or build. If there is a software package that fills the need of the business, depending on the price of the software and other factors you normally use that. some of these packages can be extended or adapted (Like SAP), so it isn’t a purely off-the-shelf decision, but nevertheless you start by typing “setup.exe” or “.setup” on a physical server, or more often on a Virtual Machine h ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 5/3/2011 2:59:20 PM
Most mature development shops use various code diagrams to give a symbolic representation of high-level and database code structures. Standards such as Business Process Model Notation (BPMN), Entity Relationship Diagrams (ERD) and the Unified Modeling Language (UML) are a few I use all the time. In the Distributed Computing (Cloud Computing) paradigm, these three diagrams (or their equivalent) become essential. In the past, I’ve been able to rely on a single architecture where my code will run ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 4/26/2011 2:33:50 PM
This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/01/18/windows-azure-and-sql-azure-use-cases.aspx Description: On-premise data will be a part of computing for quite some time – perhaps permanently. Bandwidth requirements, security, or even financial considerations for large data sets often dictate that relational (on non-relational) ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 4/5/2011 3:10:50 PM
This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/01/18/windows-azure-and-sql-azure-use-cases.aspx Description: Organizations often need to share all or part of a data set, which is consumed by other systems. These systems can be on-premise or at another location, or even at a different organization. Many times these systems use a ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 4/1/2011 1:46:18 PM
Class Description: This Cloud Computing course at SQL University explains the Distributed Computing paradigms used by major vendors, and covers information useful to the data professional for implementing proper architecture designs. Pre-Requisites: General computer programming data development terminology, industry experience in at least one of those disciplines Ins ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 3/30/2011 3:03:46 PM
Class Description: This Cloud Computing course at SQL University explains the Distributed Computing paradigms used by major vendors, and covers information useful to the data professional for implementing proper architecture designs. Pre-Requisites: General computer programming data development terminology, industry experience in at least one of those disciplines ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 3/28/2011 2:17:43 PM
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 3/22/2011 2:17:51 PM
This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/01/18/windows-azure-and-sql-azure-use-cases.aspx Description: Most organizations use a single set of enterprise applications where employees do their work. This system is designed to be secure, safe, and to perform well. It is attended and maintained by a staff of trained technic ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 3/15/2011 5:29:38 PM
This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/01/18/windows-azure-and-sql-azure-use-cases.aspx Description: Many organizations absorb, take over or merge with other organizations. In these cases, one of the most difficult parts of the process is the merging or changing of the IT systems that the employees use to do their wor ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 3/10/2011 7:35:38 AM
I had the honor of presenting the Developers at the Portland PASS chapter, and decided to go a different way than just using PowerPoint Slides…. (click on any picture to enlarge) The point is that when you need to get a point across, it’s OK to change tactics to make sure the information sticks. In this case, I decided to make the audience the PowerPoint. I used a few props to show the various paradigms we use to describe what the industry uses for the word “cloud” First, we talked about Inf ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 3/8/2011 3:34:13 PM
This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/01/18/windows-azure-and-sql-azure-use-cases.aspx Description: Physical hardware components take up room, use electricity, create heat and therefore need cooling, and require wiring and special storage units. all of these requirements cost money to rent at a data-center or to buil ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 2/28/2011 4:52:31 PM
This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/01/18/windows-azure-and-sql-azure-use-cases.aspx Description: High-Performance Computing (also called Technical Computing) at its most simplistic is a layout of computer workloads where a “head node” accepts work requests, and parses them out to “worker nodes'”. This is useful in ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 2/22/2011 8:44:09 PM
This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/01/18/windows-azure-and-sql-azure-use-cases.aspx Description: Organizations see the need for computing infrastructures that they can “rent” or pay for only when they need them. They also understand the benefits of distributed computing, but do not want to create this infrastructu ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 2/18/2011 2:26:39 PM
Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence. Vince Lombardi ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 2/14/2011 6:22:42 PM
This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/01/18/windows-azure-and-sql-azure-use-cases.aspx Description: Many applications have a requirement to be located outside of the organization’s internal infrastructure control. For instance, the company website for a brick-and-mortar retail company may want to post not only static ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 2/8/2011 2:46:34 PM
This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/01/18/windows-azure-and-sql-azure-use-cases.aspx Description: Computing platforms evolve over time. Originally computers were directed by hardware wiring - that, the “code” was the path of the wiring that directed an electrical signal from one component to another, or in some cases a ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 2/3/2011 3:31:55 PM
Recently I posted an entry explaining that you can develop in Windows Azure without having to connect to the main service on the Internet, using the Software Development Kit (SDK) which installs two emulators - one for compute and the other for storage. That brought up the question of the same kind of thing for SQL Azure. The short answer is that there isn’t one. While we’ll make the development experience for all versions of SQL Server, including SQL Azure more easy to write against, you can s ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 2/1/2011 3:39:00 PM
Many people feel they have to set up a full Azure subscription online to try out and develop on Windows Azure. But you don’t have to do that right away. In fact, you can download the Windows Azure Compute Emulator – a “cloud development environment” – right on your desktop. No, it’s not for production use, and no, you won’t have other people using your system as a cloud provider, and yes, there are some differences with Production Windows Azure, but you ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 1/31/2011 5:07:00 PM
Last Updated: 02/01/2011 It’s time for another certification, and we’ve just release the 70-583 exam on Windows Azure. I’ve blogged my “study plans” here before on other certifications, so I thought I would do the same for this one. I’ll also need to take exam 70-513 and 70-516; but I’ll post my notes on those separately. None of these are “brain dumps” or any questions from the actual tests - just the books, links and notes I have from my s ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 1/27/2011 3:19:00 PM
I normally don't go into the economics or pricing side of Distributed Computing, but I've had a few friends that have been surprised by a bill lately and I wanted to quickly address at least one aspect of it. Most folks are used to buying software and owning it outright - like buying a car. We pay a lot for the car, and then we use it whenever we want. We think of the "cloud" services as a taxi - we'll just pay for the ride we take an no more. But it's not quite like that. It's actually&nbs ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 1/25/2011 3:56:44 PM
This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/01/18/windows-azure-and-sql-azure-use-cases.aspx Description: Agility in this context is defined as the ability to quickly develop and deploy an application. In theory, the speed at which your organization can develop and deploy an application on available hardware is identical t ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 1/18/2011 4:14:00 PM
The key to effectively leveraging “Cloud Computing” or more accurately, Distributed Computing architectures like Windows and SQL Azure is to implement them where they make the most sense. This is actually good advice for any computing paradigm, but some folks believe that a particular tool should be used in all circumstances. Microsoft does not recommend that you take all of the computing resources you have on-premise and move them to a distributed architecture. A Use Case is defined ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 1/18/2011 3:54:00 PM
This is one in a series of posts on when and where to use a distributed architecture design in your organization's computing needs. You can find the main post here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/archive/2011/01/18/windows-azure-and-sql-azure-use-cases.aspx Description: “Elastic Scale” is a description of computing where the demands for the compute resources expands and contracts. Normally this involves increased user activity for the system, but the compute functions might also be dr ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 1/11/2011 4:00:00 PM
This is one in a series of posts on a Windows Azure Learning Plan. You can find the main post here. This one deals with the "compute" function of Windows Azure, which includes Configuration Files, the Web Role, the Worker Role, and the VM Role. The Application Lifecycle Management guide is here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff803362.aspx. A step-by-step programming guide is here. Configuration Files Configuration Files define the environment for a Win ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 12/30/2010 10:40:46 PM
Every year we read blogs, articles, magazines, hear news stories and blurbs on making New Year’s Resolutions. Well, I for one don’t do that. I do something else. Each year, on January 1, my wife, daughter and I get up early - like before 6:00 A.M. - and find a breakfast place that’s open. When I used to live in Safety Harbor, Florida, that was the “Paradise Café”, which has some of the best waffles around…but I digress. We find that restaurant and have a great breakfast while everyone else is ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 12/28/2010 3:49:30 PM
At the Professional Developer’s Conference (PDC) in 2010 we announced an addition to the Computational Roles in Windows Azure, called the VM Role. This new feature allows a great deal of control over the applications you write, but some have confused it with our full infrastructure offering in Windows Hyper-V. There is a proper architecture pattern for both of them. Virtualization Virtualization is the process of taking all of the hardware of a physical computer and replicating it in software ...
by BuckWoody via Carpe Datum on 12/13/2010 4:28:00 PM
This is one in a series of posts on a Windows Azure Learning Plan. You can find the main post here. This one deals with Security for Windows Azure. Overview and Training Overview and general information about SQL Azure - what it is, how it works, and where you can learn more. General Overview (sign-in required, but free) http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/inside-sql-azure.aspx General Guidelines and Limitations http://msdn.microsof ...
The content of the postings is owned by the respective author. AzureFeeds is not responsible for the contents of the postings. This site is automatically generated and cannot be reviewed for abusive content. If you find abusive content on AzureFeeds, please contact us. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.
