Server and Tools Business News Bytes blog : Azure Services Platform

SQL Server August CTPs Roll Out Continues – Download SQL Azure Database, SQL Server StreamInsight

grantkd — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:47:00 GMT

We are excited to announce today that Microsoft has released the next wave of August community technology previews (CTPs), including SQL Azure Database, SQL Server Driver for PHP 1.1 and SQL Server StreamInsight August CTP for TechNet and MSDN subscribers. The CTPs will be available on August 19^th for public trial.

SQL Server StreamInsight – Enterprise-class scalability

With increasing volume and speed of data, customers are looking for ways to better utilize and act on information in real-time. SQL Server StreamInsight’s ability to derive insights from data streams and act in near real time provides significant business benefits. The key ingredients in SQL Server StreamInsight include low latency, high throughput integration with proven Microsoft development tools such as LINQ, Visual Studio, and the .NET Framework, which provide flexibility for customers and partner to customize the platform to meet their industry and business specific needs. For more information please visit the Data Platform Insider blog at http://blogs.technet.com/dataplatforminsider/default.aspx .

SQL Azure Database –Data anytime, anywhere

Organizations are seeing an explosion of data and data-driven Web 2.0 applications, as well as the need to extend existing applications to the cloud. With SQL Azure, a cloud-based relational database service, Web 2.0, ASP.NET and PHP developers use familiar tools and data models to develop on a pay-as-you-grow, secure, scalable and highly available database service with business continuity and minimal infrastructure cost. Additionally, the SQL Server Driver for PHP provides new capabilities for building PHP application including support for SQL Azure. For more information please visit the SQL Azure Team blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/ssds/.

Microsoft Web Technologies Unveiled at MIX09 Help Businesses Deliver Return on Experience

mdingle — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Today at MIX09, Microsoft announced a set of platform investments to help companies more efficiently and affordably engage with their customers through a rich, interactive presence on the Web. This includes the release of Silverlight 3 Beta, Expression Blend 3 Preview, and continued progress in the cloud with updates to the Azure Services Platform. The company also pointed to strong momentum in platform adoption and demonstrated solutions from key partners including Netflix, Bondi Digital Publishing, StackOverflow.com and KEXP.

For more information about today’s news, please visit the Virtual Press Room and Visitmix.com.

PDC 2008- Microsoft announces its Azure Services Platform

grantkd — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Today, during a keynote at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference 2008 (PDC 2008), Ray Ozzie, Microsoft Corp.'s chief software architect, announced Windows Azure, the cloud-based service foundation underlying its Azure Services Platform, and highlighted this platform's role in delivering a software plus services approach to computing. The Azure Services Platform is an industry-leading move by Microsoft to help developers build the next generation of applications that will span from the cloud to the enterprise datacenter and deliver compelling new experiences across the PC, Web and phone.

Key components of the Azure Services Platform include the following:

Windows Azure for service hosting and management, low-level scalable storage, computation and networking
Microsoft SQL Data Services for a wide range of database services and reporting
Microsoft .NET Services which are service-based implementations of familiar .NET Framework concepts such as workflow and access control
Live Services for a consistent way for users to store, share and synchronize documents, photos, files and information across their PCs, phones, PC applications and Web sites
Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Services for business content, collaboration and rapid solution development in the cloud.

For more information about today's news check out the below resources: