Database Reference
In-Depth Information
SQL Azure.
Microsoft's transactional database offering for cloud computing based
on Microsoft SQL Server 2008. For example, you can store your customer database
in the cloud using SQL Azure and consume customer data using services deployed
in Windows Azure.
Figure 1-1 shows a simplified corporate environment connecting to the Microsoft Azure platform
and consuming all three services. This diagram is overly simplified, but it conveys an important
message: Microsoft Azure is designed to extend a corporate environment securely for web applications,
services, messaging, and data stores.
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Figure 1-1.
Microsoft Azure platform overview
Why Microsoft Azure?
One of the fundamental questions that's frequently asked is, “Why?” Who's interested in developing
applications in Windows Azure in the first place? To answer this question, let's look at the evolution of
web platforms.
About 15 years ago, when the public Internet was all about bulletin board systems (BBBs), Gopher
services, and $500 9600-baud modems, the question was, “Will the Internet stick as a technology?” That
question has been answered, but many new concepts have grown since then, including web sites,
hosting centers, and SaaS.
This evolution relies on a common theme:
decoupling
. BBSs decoupled public information from
libraries; web sites decoupled user interfaces from computers; hosting centers decoupled hardware from
a company's own infrastructure; and SaaS decoupled complex applications from corporate computers.
Cloud computing on Microsoft Azure is a natural evolution of computing flexibility in which the
actual physical storage and implementation details are decoupled from the software solution. For
example, deploying services in Windows Azure doesn't require any knowledge of the machine running
the service or any of the core services (IIS version, operating system patches, and so on). You may never
know which machine is running your software. Connecting to a Windows Azure server is performed
through logical names, just like connecting to SQL Azure.
The ability to disassociate machines from data and services is very powerful in itself. Although it's
still an early-stage platform, Microsoft's Azure environment allows multiple business scenarios to
flourish, including these:
