New Windows Azure Features Webcasts

Last month at PDC2010 Microsoft announced the imminent availability of many exciting new features and services, some long awaited. These capabilities have just come online for use this week--some as released features and some as community previews you have to sign up for. This includes a completely new management portal and an updated SDK, so there's a lot to get used to.

I'll be covering (and demoing) the new features in a 3-part webcast series, the first of which is this Friday 12/3. Below are the dates, topics covered, and registration links.

What's New from PDC, Part 1 - Windows Azure
Friday 12/03/10
https://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=152107

What's New from PDC, Part 2 - SQL Azure and Windows Azure VM Role
Wednesday 12/15/2010
https://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=152108

What's New from PDC, Part 3 - AppFabric and Windows Azure Connect
Tuesday 01/11/2011
https://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=152109

Hope you can join us!

AzureDesignPatterns.com Re-Launched

AzureDesignPatterns.com has been re-launched after a major overhaul. This site catalogues the design patterns of the Windows Azure Platform. These patterns will be covered in extended detail in my upcoming book, The Azure Handbook.



This site was originally created back in 2008 to catalog the design patterns for the just-announced Windows Azure platform. An overhaul has been long overdue: Azure has certainly come a long way since then and now contains many more features and services--and accordingly many more patterns. Originally there were about a dozen primitive patterns and now there over 70 catalogued. There are additional patterns to add but I believe this initial effort decently covers the platform including the new feature announcements based on what was shown at PDC 2010.

The first category of patterns is Compute Patterns. This includes the Windows Azure Compute Service (Web Role, Worker Role, etc.) and the new AppFabric Cache Service.


 
The second category of patterns is Storage Patterns. This includes the Windows Azure Storage Service (Blobs, Queues, Tables) and the Content Delivery Network.


 
The third category of patterns is Communication Patterns. This covers the Windows Azure AppFabric Service Bus.



The fourth category of patterns is Security Patterns. This covers the Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service. More patterns certainly need to be added in this area and will be over time.


 
The fifth category of patterns is Relational Data Patterns. This covers the SQL Azure Database Service, the new SQL Azure Reporting Service, and the DataMarket Service (formerly called Project Dallas).


 
The sixth category of patterns is Network Patterns. This covers the new Windows Azure Connect virtual networking feature (formerly called Project Sydney).



The original site also contained an Application Patterns section which described composite patterns created out of the primitive patterns. These are coming in the next installment.

I’d very much like to hear feedback on the pattern catalog. Are key patterns missing? Are the pattern names and descriptions and icons clear? Is the organization easy to navigate? Let me know your thoughts.

Webcast: Microsoft Cloud Computing Assessments: Determining TCO and ROI

On Tuesday 11/16/10 my Neudesic colleague Rinat Shagisultanov will deliver Part 2 in our webcast series on cloud computing assessments, this time dealing with how to make the business case by computing TCO and ROI.

Assessments: Determining TCO and ROI

Event Type: Webcast - Pacific Time
Event Start Date: 11/16/2010 10:00 AM
Event End Date: 11/16/2010 11:00 AM
Presenter: Rinat Shagisultanov, Principal Consultant II, Neudesic
Registration: https://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=151052

Cloud computing can benefit the bottom line of nearly any company, but how do you determine the specific ROI for your applications? In this webcast you'll see how to compute the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for your on-premise applications and estimate what the TCO in the cloud will be to gauge your savings. You'll see how your Return on Investment (ROI) can be calculated by considering TCO, migration costs, and application lifetime. Knowing the ROI helps you make informed decisions about risk vs. reward and which opportunities will bring you the greatest value.