#Azure Action - Weekly Newsletter– 3rd December 2010

Local Overview

• Local Azure specialist Tom Hollander writes about full IIS differences from Hosted Web Core (HWC)

 Readiness & Resources

• Reading:
  • Re-Introducing the Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service
• Watching:
  • Windows Azure BootCamp (MSDN Webcast)
• Case study:
  • Volvo uses Microsoft cloud for Twilight | Microsoft Resource

• Tools:
  • MAP Toolkit v5.5 Beta – plan for Windows and SQL Azure

In the news:

• Windows Azure SDK 1.3, Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio  and update for WAPTK

• Azure Advent Calendar

• Orleans is a software framework for building client + cloud applications

Events:

• Events Azure Discovery Days – Melbourne and Sydney this week

Community:

• Like Azure? …become a fan: www.facebook.com/windowsazure
• Want answers. See the forums

Guidance:

• Troubleshooting Azure Deployments
• Some musings on learning Azure
• David Chappell talks HPC and Windows Azure

Questions

Windows Azure is a cloud operating system. What does that mean?

Watch Mark Russinovich is a Technical Fellow working on the Windows Azure team

Q: How does SQL Azure differ from competitors?

A: See this article of SQL Azure architecture

This week I have listed a few security questions for SQL Azure:

• Q: Can my SQL queries be encrypted between client and server

A: All communications between SQL Azure Database and your application require encryption (SSL) at all times

• Q: Can I use a firewall with SQL Azure?

A: SQL Azure maintains a firewall for the SQL Azure servers, preventing anyone from connecting to your server if you do not give their client IP address access(Video: https://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlazure/archive/2010/06/09/10021739.aspx)

• Q: What do I need to do make SQL Azure queries accessible outside my organization

A: The customer should allow outbound TCP/1433 traffic to SQL Azure