Category |
Items |
Getting Started |
- How to set up your development environment for Windows Azure development.
- How to build a web site in a web role.
- How to deploy an application to Windows Azure.
- How to debug deployed applications.
- How to build a worker process in a worker role.
|
Architecture and Design |
- How to implemented layered architecture in the cloud.
- How to run an on-premise app in the cloud.
- How to design an application to scale across multiple data centers.
- How to design a loosely coupled system.
- How to design around latency issues.
- How to dynamically increase or decrease the number of role instances based on load.
- How to use Azure diagnostics to troubleshoot production issues.
- How to provide incremental progress feedback from a worker role (for ex: progress bar).
- How to design for integration (custom cloud applications / finished services (BPOS) / on premise / ESB)
- How to call on-premise data stores from Windows Azure.
- How to decide if your application is right for Windows Azure (on-premise vs. cloud, advantages/disadvantages).
- How to scale horizontally.
- How to scale vertically.
- How to manage state in the cloud.
- How to manage logs.
- How to cache data.
- How to design for asynchronous work.
- How to design a tightly bound system.
- How to segregate application logic between Azure roles.
- How to create a small-to-medium Web app.
- How to create a large Web application.
- How to manage separation of responsibilities in functional roles.
- How to build a system using both hosted data and on-premises data.
- How to coordinate multiple worker roles.
- How to create a parallel processing application.
- How to use a distributed cache.
- How to implement multi-tenancy in Azure.
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| Administration |
- How to manage your subscription(s) when you've got a team of developers.
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| ALM |
- How to manage both environment and application upgrades.
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ASP.NET Applications |
- How to connect to SQL Azure.
- How to connect to Windows Azure Storage.
- How to authenticate users using Live ID.
- How to implement a RESTful interface in an ASP.NET application.
- How to access certificates.
- How to manage state in an application.
- How to connect to a WCF service with an internal endpoint.
- How to encrypt a value using RSA encryption.
- How to monitor health of other VM instances.
- How to access performance counters from code.
|
| Authentication / Authorization |
- How to perform single sign on (Federation).
- How to turn your application into a claims aware application.
- How to authenticate callers.
- How to identify callers.
- How to manage personally identifying information / sensitive data in the cloud.
- How to build an STS.
- How to integrate with Active Directory.
- How to integrate with my Membership Provider.
- How to leverage roles (Membership).
- How to leverage claims.
- How to turn claims into roles. How to authorize access to a REST interface.
- How to implement complex logic in claims mapping.
- How to configure my application for multiple authentication methods?
- How to perform sign-out from my claims aware application?
- How to Enable Tracing
- How to use Windows Azure platform AppFabric Access Control to obtain a Simple Web Token (SWT) after providing a SAML token.
- How to integrate Windows Azure platform AppFabric Access Control with ADFS.
- How To: Configure Facebook as an Identity Provider for Azure AppFabric Access Control Service (ACS)
- How To: Configure Google as an Identity Provider for Azure AppFabric Access Control Service (ACS)
- How To: Configure Yahoo! as an Identity Provider for Azure AppFabric Access Control Service (ACS)
|
Caching |
- How to leverage a distributed cache (e.g. Velocity)
- How to swap out cache providers.
- How to cache data effectively.
- How to expire the cache.
- How to use Azure's VM local storage.
- How to implement the Azure AppFabric Cache session provider.
|
Configuration |
- How to configure a web role.
- How to configure a worker role.
- How to cache configuration data.
- How to decide what settings should go in ServiceConfiguration vs. Web/App Configs.
- How to programmatically change configuration settings.
- How to set up DNS for Azure applications.
|
Data Access / Storage |
- How to access Azure Storage tables.
- How to access Azure Storage queues.
- How to connect to SQL Azure.
- How to decide whether to use Azure Table Storage vs. SQL Azure
- How to access Windows Azure Storage from Silverlight
- How to upload files to BLOB storage.
- How to handle connection timeouts with Azure Storage.
- How to design an extensible schema that will never need to be updated.
- How to choose a partition key for different entities.
- How not to get too much data into one partition.
- How to load initial/domain data (ETL)
- How to do BI in the cloud.
- How to store BLOB data for an on premise application.
- How to organize your containers and blobs efficiently.
- How to track/retrieve additional information/properties about blobs
- How to authorize access to containers/blobs
- How to name storage containers in WAS (what are the restrictions for naming?)
- How to design a scalable partitioning strategy for WAS.
- How to authorize access to BLOBs using Shared Access Signatures
- How to persist a VM drive to Azure Drives.
- How to organize your containers and blobs efficiently.
- How to track/retrieve additional BLOB properties.
- How to use queues for IPC.
- How to deploy data to an Azure Drive.
- How to create a WCF Data Services interface for Windows Azure Storage.
- How to expose SQL Azure through a WCF Data Services interface.
- How to support transactional data in Azure Storage.
- How to repartition your live data.
- How to repartition data.
- How to programmatically reset and obtain storage access keys.
- How and when to leverage Azure Local Storage.
- How to change Azure Storage partitioning of existing services (should scaling needs require a change).
- How to create idempotent transactions.
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DataMarket (“Dallas”) |
- How to use DataMarket from my application
- How to address security, billing, auditing, and authenticating
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Deployment |
- How to install an SSL certificate for an Azure ASP.NET app.
- How to determine number of instances of roles to deploy.
- How to roll out a deployment.
- How to roll back a deployment.
- How to create and install a deployment certificate.
- How to deploy applications programmatically through the portal API’s.
|
General |
- How to push peak loads to the cloud to reduce the size of an on premise data center.
- How to decide if you application is right for Windows Azure (on-premise vs. cloud, advantages/disadvantages)
- How to run your own VM in the cloud.
- How to develop with a team of developers.
|
Logging / Health / Monitoring |
- How to determine your log destination (EventLog, TableStorage, Flatfile, etc)
- How to view logs
- How to monitor the health of a deployed application
- How to log information from IIS (until IIS Logs are available).
- How to monitor web roles.
- How to monitor worker roles.
- How to alert/alarm if needs are beyond Windows Live Alerts (currently what Azure provides)
- How to throttle your logging.
|
Performance |
- How to design around Azure throttling.
- How to simulate load.
- How to access/view performance counters.
- How to do capacity planning.
- How to compare BLOB storage against VM drives.
- How to measure performance against CRUD.
|
Security |
- How to encrypt values stored in configuration files.
- How to sanitize logging events for sensitive data.
- How to prevent CSRF attacks.
- How to protect configuration settings.
- How to encrypt persisted data.
- How to secure any sensitive data that is sent between cloud applications.
- How to store sensitive data in the cloud.
- How to secure sensitive data sent to a cloud app.
|
Service Bus |
- How to use the service bus to expose on-premise services to Windows Azure hosted applications.
- How to use the service bus from a Silverlight client.
- How to expose “discoverable” services via the service bus.
- How to authenticate service bus access with AppFabric Access Control.
|
SQL Azure |
- How to decide between Windows Azure Storage and SQL Azure.
- How to implement separation of privileges in SQL Azure.
- How to avoid SQL Azure throttling.
- How to deploy SQL Azure TSQL or DB schemas as part of application deployment process.
- How to backup SQL Azure databases.
- How to restore SQL Azure databases.
- How to use SQL roles and accounts in conjunction with claims based authentication mechanisms.
|
Transactions |
- How to implement 2-phase commit.
- How to roll back.
- How to update multiple pieces of data at the same time.
- How to lock effectively.
|
WCF |
- How to set up transport security for WCF on Windows Azure.
- How to use client certs with a WCF service on Windows Azure.
- How to use on-premise user stores for authentication and authorization.
- How to use internal endpoints with a WCF service.
- How to expose an on-premise WCF service to a Windows Azure hosted client.
- How to build a WCF service in a worker role.
|
WIF (Windows Identity Foundation) |
- How to set up ADFS as an STS for Active Directory.
- How to create a custom STS.
- How to create a federation provider STS.
- How to use a custom claims repository.
- How to: Using the FederatedPassiveSignIn ASP.NET User Control
- How to use WSTrustChannelFactory and WSTrustChannel
- How to identify from Windows Phone to ASP.NET web site?
- How to identify from Windows Phone to WCF service?
- How to identify from iPad/iPhone to WCF service?
- How to identify from droid to WCF service?
- How to identitfy from Silverlight to WCF service?
- How to Enable Tracing
- How to log WCF and WIF traces to different tracing sources
- How to use svctraceviewer.exe for troubleshoting
- How to use svctraceviewer.exe to inspect WIF traces
- How to: Establishing Trust from an ASP.NET Relying Party Application to an STS using FedUtil
- How to package and deploy claims aware application on-prem?
- How to package and deploy claims aware application to Azure?
- How to request an ActAs token.
|
Windows Azure VM (Virtual Machine) Role |
- How to choose between VM Role and designing for a Web or Worker Role
- How to design for the VM Role
|
Worker Role |
- How to communicate between different types of worker roles.
- How to schedule work.
- How to group different types of work.
- How to determine the number of worker roles.
- How to determine if multiple threads should be used
|
Workflow |
- How to design for asynchronous work.
- How to design for integration (custom cloud applications / finished services (BPOS) / on premise / ESB)
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