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What is Azure?

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Goal

What is Azure? What pieces are part of it?

Before we get started, I'd like to ask my readers how they would define Cloud in one or two sentences? Simply put, the cloud is a set of connected servers which developers can install and run services, as well as store and retrieve data. Now that we've got the cloud cleared up (pun intented), how to you define Azure? Once again, in simple terms, Azure is an operating system for the cloud and is optimized for utility computing (pay for what you use only). Developers will create applications that run on Azure using Visual Studio and their existing .NET programming skills.

 

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Microsoft Chief Software Architect made this point at PDC. See https://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Charles/Ray-Ozzie-Reflections-on-Azure. He makes the point that is not longer a world just about the PC, the web, or the phone. The point is to bring all these technologies into one paradigm and make them work together in a meaningful way. Ray makes the point that Microsoft Office works that way - it works on the PC, the web, and the phone.

Live Services

Live Services are a set of building blocks within the Azure Services Platform for handling user data and application resources which can connect your application to hundreds of millions of users and devices.The following APIs are available to Live Services developers.

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