1. The Windows Azure Platform: When and Why to Use It
David Chappell
Chappell & Associates
Session Code: ARC201

2. Goals Describe the Windows Azure platform
Look at some typical scenarios for using the Windows Azure platform
Compare the Windows Azure platform with other cloud platforms

3. An Overview of the Windows Azure Platform

4. The Windows Azure Platform Formerly known as the Azure Services Platform
SQL Azure
Windows Azure
Cloud
Applications
.NET Services
On-Premises
Applications
Others
Windows

5. Windows Azure An illustration…
Application
Config
Storage
Compute
Fabric
SQL Azure
Applications
.NET Services
Windows Azure
Applications
Windows
Others

6. Windows Azure Compute Service A closer look
VMs
Load Balancer
HTTP/ HTTPS
IIS
Web
Role Instance
Worker
Role Instance
Agent
Application
Compute
Storage
Fabric …

7. Windows Azure Storage Service A closer look
HTTP/ HTTPS
Blobs
Tables
Queues
Compute
Storage
Fabric

8. SQL Azure Formerly known as SQL Services
SQL Azure Database
Others (Future)
SQL Azure
Applications
.NET Services
Windows Azure
Applications
Windows
Others

9. SQL Azure Database An Illustration
TDS
Application
SQL Azure Database
Others (Future)

10. SQL Azure Database Using one or multiple databases
Application
Database
Max database size is 10 GB
Database
Application

11. .NET Services Infrastructure in the cloud?
Service Bus
Access Control
SQL Azure
Applications
.NET Services
Windows Azure
Applications
Windows
Others

12. Windows Azure Platform Pricing (1)
Compute: $0.12/hour for each VM instance
Storage:
Data: $0.15/GB per month (tables, blobs)
Access: $0.01/10,000 operations (tables, blobs, queues)
Bandwidth: $0.10/GB in, $0.15/GB out
.NET Services
Messages: $0.15/100,000 message operations
Includes Service Bus messages and Access Control tokens

13. Windows Azure Platform Pricing (2)
SQL Azure Database
Web Edition
Data: $9.99/month for a database up to 1 GB
Bandwidth: $0.10/GB in, $0.15/GB out
Business Edition
Data: $99.99/month for a database up to 10 GB

14. Using the Windows Azure Platform: Scenarios

15. Applying Azure (1) Some characteristics of Azure-appropriate applications
Apps that need massive scale
Example: A Web 2.0 application
Apps that need high reliability
Example: A Software as a Service (SaaS) application
Apps with variable load
Example: An on-line ticketing application
Example: An on-premises app that needs occasional extra capacity

16. Applying Azure (2) Some characteristics of Azure-appropriate applications
Apps with a short or unpredictable lifetime
Example: An app created for a marketing campaign
Apps that do parallel processing
Example: A financial modeling app
Example: An app doing CGI rendering
Apps that must fail fast or scale fast
Example: Start-ups (including internal start-ups)

17. Applying Azure (3) Some characteristics of Azure-appropriate applications
Apps that don’t fit well in a firm’s data center
Example: A firm with no data center
Example: A joint venture
Example: A business unit that wishes to avoid its IT department
Apps that can benefit from cloud storage
Example: An application that archives data
Example: Data that must be shared across multiple apps in diverse locations

18. Building on Azure A non-Azure app using Windows Azure storage
Blobs
SQL Azure
On-Premises or Hosted Application

19. Building on Azure A massively scalable web app exposed on the public Internet
Tables
Web Role
Instance
Users

20. Building on Azure A massively scalable web app with background processing
Tables
Queues
Blobs
Web Role
Instance
Worker Role
Instance
Users

21. Building on Azure A web app with relational storage
SQL Azure
Web Role
Instance
Users

22. Building on Azure A web app using cloud and on-premises data
SQL Azure
Web Role
Instance
Service Bus
On-premises Database
Users

23. Building on Azure A parallel processing application
Queues
Blobs
Worker Role
Instance
Web Role
Instance
User

24. The Windows Azure Platform and Its Competitors

25. Hosting vs. the Windows Azure Platform A comparison
Advantages of dedicated hosting
Allows full control
Resource costs might be lower
Advantages of Windows Azure
No lead time and no commitment
Admin costs might be lower
Can grow and shrink resources more quickly
Provides services designed for high reliability, e.g., the Fabric, built-in data replication
Provides services designed for high scale, e.g., Windows Azure Storage tables

26. Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) provides virtual machines running Linux or Windows
EC2 VM
Amazon Web Services
Linux or
Windows VM
Windows Server
Windows Azure Platform
Relational Database Service
SQL Azure Database
Your Application
Your Application
Your DBMS
Windows Azure Storage
AWS
Storage
Windows Azure Fabric

27. Windows Azure Platform
Google AppEngine
AppEngine runs Python and Java applications
Google AppEngine
Python/Java Runtime
Windows Azure Fabric
Windows Azure Platform
Windows Azure Storage
SQL Azure Database
Windows Server
Worker Role
Web Role
App
Datastore, Task Lists
Task

28. Force.com and Windows Azure
Salesforce.com’s Force.com focuses on data-driven enterprise applications
Force.com
Force.com Runtime
Enterprise Application
Windows Azure Fabric
Windows Azure Platform
Windows Azure Storage
SQL Azure Database
Windows Server
Worker Role
Web Role
Force.com Database

29. Conclusions
The Windows Azure platform is a good choice for a variety of applications
Knowing when to use it requires:
Understanding what the platform provides
Grasping the benefits it provides
Matching those to the problem you’re solving

30. For Further Reading
Introducing the Windows Azure Platform: An Early Look at Windows Azure, SQL Azure, and .NET Services
Introducing Windows Azure

31. Related Content Breakout Sessions
ARC /09/ :00-10:15 [David Chappell] The Windows Azure Platform: When And Why To Use It
SVR /10/ :00-10:15 [Jan Schenk] Windows Azure Flight Tour – Looking At The Clouds From Above
INT /10/ :30-14:45 [Kurt Claeys] Code Walkthrough of a Cloud Application Running on the Windows Azure Platform
DAT /11/ :30-14:45 [David Robinson] Building Applications with Microsoft SQL Azure and Windows Azure
DEV /11/ :45-17:00 [Bhushan Nene; Grzegorz Gogolowicz] Deep Dive Into Developing Line-of-Business Applications Running In The Cloud

32. About the Speaker
David Chappell is Principal of Chappell & Associates ( in San Francisco, California. Through his speaking, writing, and consulting, he helps people around the world understand, use, and make better decisions about new technology. David has been the keynote speaker for many events and conferences on five continents, and his seminars have been attended by tens of thousands of IT decision makers, architects, and developers in forty countries. His books have been published in a dozen languages and used regularly in courses at MIT, ETH Zurich, and other universities. In his consulting practice, he has helped clients such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Stanford University, and Target Corporation adopt new technologies, market new products, train their sales staffs, and create business plans. Earlier in his career, David wrote networking software, chaired a U.S. national standards working group, and played keyboards with the Peabody-award-winning Children’s Radio Theater. He holds a B.S. in Economics and an M.S. in Computer Science, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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