Windows Azure and Deployment of Applications to the Cloud - Cloud Database Development and Management - page 340

development projects. For large-scale application development, application developers are
also able to rely on the source control technology.
◾ Develop SQL Database Projects : hrough the user interface provided by the portal, data-
base administrators are able to provision SQL Database servers and logins, conigure ire-
walls, and create SQL Databases. After logging on to the portal, the database administrators
can perform management tasks such as altering and deleting tables, views, and stored pro-
cedures, and authoring and executing the Transact-SQL queries.
◾ Create Storage Service : he portal allows application developers to create storage accounts,
and create and manage Windows Azure Storage, including Blob Storage, Table Storage, and
Queue Storage.
◾ Develop and Host Websites : he portal allows application developers to create and run
websites on Windows Azure. Tools such as WebMatrix and the Visual Studio SDK are avail-
able to help with website coniguration and deployment. With tools such as TFS and Git,
a team project can be directly published to a website. One can also view the dependencies
between a data source such as SQL Database and a website. When needed, the website and
the data source can be scaled simultaneously to meet the requirement.
◾ Monitor Services : hrough the portal, one is able to monitor cloud services, websites, stor-
age, and virtual machines. Tools are available for detecting the problems in applications, and
generating reports and analyses about an operation process. Windows Azure can even alert
users about resource usage and billings.
◾ Provide Help Information : he portal provides the help information and the status infor-
mation for a long process.
◾ Get Quick Start on Application Development : he portal provides galleries of images,
templates, virtual machines, and default options to help application developers get a quick
start instead of starting from scratch.
◾ Deploy Applications in Integrated Developing Environment : he portal is able to deploy
websites or cloud services developed in Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio 2012,
and WebMatrix. It can also deploy applications developed with the cross-platform of Node.
js, Java, and PHP.
◾ Work with Integrated Management API : To build services that can make various resources
available on web pages for distribution, the representational state transfer (REST) approach
is adopted by Windows Azure. With REST, diferent types of hypermedia can relate to each
other. he Windows Azure Management REST API is provided to help application devel-
opers create web-based applications that are able to share Windows Azure resources. Based
on the REST approach, the API provides an integrated management API across Windows
Azure. he integration management API allows developers to work on content manage-
ment, worklow, and content integration applications through a single set of programming
interfaces.
Figure 10.2 summarizes the tasks that can be accomplished by the Windows Azure Management
Portal.
he Windows Azure Management Portal is so designed that it is accessible from various
devices. After the Windows Azure Management Portal is opened, you should be able to work on
the sections shown in Figure 10.3.
◾ Main Menu : It allows users to access all the information about the Windows Azure platform.
◾ Service Menu : It allows users to create new services and resources.