Book Image

Microsoft Windows Azure Development Cookbook

By : Neil Mackenzie
Book Image

Microsoft Windows Azure Development Cookbook

By: Neil Mackenzie

Overview of this book

The Windows Azure platform is Microsoft's Platform-as-a-Service environment for hosting services and data in the cloud. It provides developers with on-demand computing, storage, and service connectivity capabilities that facilitate the hosting of highly scalable services in Windows Azure datacenters across the globe. This practical cookbook will show you advanced development techniques for building highly scalable cloud-based services using the Windows Azure platform. It contains over 80 practical, task-based, and immediately usable recipes covering a wide range of advanced development techniques for building highly scalable services to solve particular problems/scenarios when developing these services on the Windows Azure platform. Packed with reusable, real-world recipes, the book starts by explaining the various access control mechanisms used in the Windows Azure platform. Next you will see the advanced features of Windows Azure Blob storage, Windows Azure Table storage, and Windows Azure Queues. The book then dives deep into topics such as developing Windows Azure hosted services, using Windows Azure Diagnostics, managing hosted services with the Service Management API, using SQL Azure and the Windows Azure AppFabric Service Bus. You will see how to use several of the latest features such as VM roles, Windows Azure Connect, startup tasks, and the Windows Azure AppFabric Caching Service.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Microsoft Windows Azure Development Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Provisioning a SQL Azure Server


A SQL Azure Server is the administrative and security boundary for a collection of SQL Azure databases hosted in a single Windows Azure datacenter (region). All connections to a database hosted by the server go through the service endpoint provided by the SQL Azure Server. A Windows Azure subscription can create up to six SQL Azure Servers, each of which can host up to 150 databases (including the master database). These SQL Azure Servers can be in different Windows Azure datacenters. These are soft limits that can be increased by arrangement with Microsoft.

The SQL Azure Server is provisioned on the Windows Azure Portal. The Windows Azure datacenter location, as well as the administrator login and password must be specified during the provisioning process. The rules for the SQL Azure firewall, used to restrict access to the SQL Azure databases associated with the SQL Azure Server, can also be configured as part of the provisioning process. After the SQL Azure...