Windows Azure What, Why and How to use

• June 2, 2010
• Girikon

If you ask, ‘What is Window Azure? ’ the answer is:-

Window Azure is an open and flexible cloud platform for building, deploying, and managing applications and workloads hosted on a global network of Microsoft managed data centers. Windows Azure is a foundation for running applications and storing data in the cloud . Microsoft Data centers are used to store data.

To support cloud applications and data, Windows Azure has five components, those components are:

Compute: Runs applications in the cloud. These applications largely see a Windows Server environment, although the Windows Azure programming model isn’t exactly the same as the on-premises Windows Server model.

Storage: Stores binary and structured data in the cloud.

Fabric Controller: Deploys, Manages, and Monitors applications. The fabric controller also handles updates to system software throughout the platform.

Content Delivery Network (CDN): Speeds up global access to binary data in Windows Azure storage by maintaining cached copies of that data around the world.

Connect: Allows creating IP-level connections between on-premises computers and Windows Azure applications.

Window azure based on cloud service models, those models are- SaaS, PaaS and IaaS.

Software as a Service: Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors help in building custom applications to provide Solutions tailored to specific needs by developing services that are hosted in the cloud and can be consumed by the end users.

Platform as a Service: Platform as a Service (PaaS) vendors provide end-to-end cloud computing platform with capabilities for application design, development, testing, deployment and hosting.

Infrastructure as a Service: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) vendors provide virtualized computing and storage resources in the cloud as a service.

In the current version of Windows Azure, developers can choose from three kinds of roles:-
Web Role: The web role is just like a normal web server. It runs IIS7 and allows you to host up to five HTTP/S ports. You can host several web applications with the same role using host headers.
Worker Role: Worker roles, designed to run a variety of Windows-based code. The biggest difference between a Web role and a Worker role is that Worker roles don’t have IIS configured inside them, and so the code they run isn’t hosted by IIS .Worker roles are commonly used for back-end processes and for hosting many web services.
VM Role: The VM Role is differs from the web and worker role. The VM role is any server image that you create & upload and further can be customized as per your needs. It must run Windows Server 2008 R2.

Why Window azure important?
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.
Azure simplifies maintaining and operating applications by providing on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and manage web and connected applications. Infrastructure management is automated with a platform that is designed for high availability and dynamic scaling to match usage needs with the option of a pay-as-you-go pricing model.

How to use Window Azure?
Five step to create Window azure application:-

• Installation of Windows Azure SDK
• Developing First Windows Azure Web Application
• Deploying application locally in Development Storage Fabric
• Registration for free Windows Azure Trial
• Deployment of the Application in Microsoft Data Center

Hurrey!!
Ashutosh