Windows Azure Platform, Second Edition

The Windows Azure Platform has rapidly established itself as one of the most sophisticated cloud computing platforms available. With Microsoft working to continually update their product and keep it at the cutting edge, the future looks bright—if you have the skills to harness it. In particular, new features such as remote desktop access, dynamic content caching and secure content delivery using SSL make the latest version of Azure a more powerful solution than ever before.

It’s widely agreed that cloud computing has produced a paradigm shift in traditional architectural concepts by providing new ways to both store and process data. The basic concepts of the cloud are now well understood throughout the industry.

What is much less well understood, and the primary focus of this book, is how the Windows Azure technology can be applied in real-world scenarios and made to work for you. This book answers those questions, demonstrating how all the features of Windows Azure—both old and new—can be put to work.

By the time you’re done reading, you will be comfortable building high-quality end-to-end Windows Azure services of your own. The book, like the Azure platform itself, is divided into three key parts—Windows Azure, SQL Azure, and Windows Azure AppFabric. Each of these plays a unique role in the functioning of your cloud service. It is the goal of this book to show you how to use these components, both separately and together, to build flawless cloud applications as well as hybrid architectures that fit in alongside your business' existing systems.

Pro Windows Azure Platform, Second Edition is a down-to-earth, code-centric book that shows precisely how the all the components of Windows Azure are employed, and demonstrates the techniques and best practices you'll need to put them to work.

What you’ll learn

• Everything you need to understand the Windows Azure platform components—from Access Control to SQL Azure, from the ServiceBus to Windows Azure Connect
• The architectural theory behind Windows Azure and the nuts-and-bolts code that binds your services together
• How to design, build, and deploy an Azure service
• The critical new services of Azure and how the work: Windows Azure Connect, VMRole, SQLAzure Data Sync and Windows Azure AppFabric caching are all covered

About the Authors

Tejaswi Redkar is a software architect with a passion for writing. He works for Microsoft and has been working on the Windows Azure platform since 2008. He is also the Worldwide Community Lead for the Windows Azure platform in Microsoft Services. He has architected several small- and large-scale systems on Windows Azure for Enterprises and ISVs. Tejaswi has not only written about conceptual topics like Threading and MSMQ, but also on broader topics, such as software ecosystems, businesses, and platforms. Tejaswi has a Master's degree in Computer Engineering from San Jose State University and an MBA from University of Wisconsin, Whitewater.

Tony Guidici has fifteen years' experience as a software developer and architect. He is currently a Senior Architect Evangelist at Microsoft in the Developer & Platform Evangelism (DPE) group. He is on the Azure Incubation team, and is focused on providing technical guidance and assistance to Cloud Service Vendors creating SaaS applications on Windows Azure. Additionally, he works with the product team to provide product feedback from customers.

He has been working with Windows Azure since it was first announced at PDC 2008, and with early adopters since 2009 as part of Microsoft Consulting Services. He believes that the cloud is a generational paradigm shift, and that Windows Azure is the premier cloud platform. He continues to stay sharp by seeking out interesting problems his customers face and helping solve them.

He holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Information Technology Analysis and Design, and is an avid fan of Badger football. He also holds a BA in International Business from Bradley University, and is looking forward to the next time we see the Braves in the Final Four.