No book on public cloud computing is complete without a chapter on security and compliancy. Security means doing the best possible to prevent unauthorized access to data and components publishing that data.

Microsoft Azure datacenters are not accessible for unauthorized persons. The only persons allowed to enter the datacenter are security guards and Microsoft staff responsible for operating the infrastructure. Customers are not allowed to enter under any circumstances.

Azure datacenters have a ISO 27001 certification. Each year, a third-party auditing company checks if Microsoft complies with its security policy.

To allow Dutch financial organizations to use Azure, the Dutch bank regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (Dutch Central Bank) has a right to examine Microsoft Azure.

Azure runs in many datacenters worldwide. Two datacenters are located in Europe: one in Amsterdam and one in Dublin. Besides being close to European customers and thus limit latency, it is also required...